The second outing for trumpeter and composer Nate Wooley's Columbia Icefield band with Mary Halvorson on guitar, Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar, Ryan Sawyer on drums, plus violist Mat Maneri and bassist Trevor Dunn joining for one track; an album of sublime and subtly complex sondscapes in beautiful abstractions that evolve to exceptional group and solo interplay.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2022 Country: USA Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels w/ booklet Recorded at Oktaven Audio, in Mount Vernon, New York, on October 14th and 15th, 2021, by Ron St. Germain and Ryan Streber.
"This album is dedicated to those who recognize living as a heroic act: the occupiers of sunup barstools; the cubicle-planted; the ghosts of Greyhounds; the reasonably sketchy. A burlap hero is one who marches-consciously or not-back to the sea in hopes of making no splash, who understands and embraces the imperfection of being, and in that way, stretches the definition of sainthood to fit."-"Nate Wooley, February 2022
"Columbia Icefield consists of a core quartet: Mary Halverson on guitar, Susan Alcorn on pedal steel, and Ryan Sawyer on drums. There are also guest spots for Trevor Dunn on electric bass and Mat Maneri on viola. Wooley originally planned the group as a re-imagined jazz group, but is now inclined to see the music as more akin to folk music, in the sense that it tells a story that reflects the history and ethos of a people. Wooley dedicates the music to the Burlap Heroes, a people who march , "consciously or not, back to the sea in the hopes of making no splash, who understands and embraces the imperfection of being, and, in that way, stretches the definition of sainthood."
Sonically, the music on the album has a lot in common with contemporary classical music, but Wooley in his writing and conceptions is also clearly very alive to the distinctive and personal sounds of each of the individual members of this group.
The whole piece is played straight-through, but the track listing shows seven pieces: four quite short with titles TK 1 to 4, and three long tracks with the enigmatic titles "I Am The Sea That Sings Of Dust", "A Catastrophic Legend" and "Returning to Drown Myself, Finally".
The piece begins with atmospheric shifting sounds created initially by Wooley's extended techniques on the trumpet followed by Halvorson's distinctive sound on the guitar. This combination continues into the track with the title I Am The Sea That Sings Of Dust, but about half way through Wooley enters with a beautifully clear sound. The track develops through interaction between trumpet and drums and then with Maneri's viola.
The second long track, "A Catastrophic Legend", is a stunning piece of music, initially quite meditative, but gradually building up the intensity with Halvorson (or is it Alcorn?) at the forefront. The mood then changes with a beautiful passage of melodic trumpet which in turn leads into a more dramatic passage with Wooley's trumpet playing over a groove from Dunn's electric bass and Sawyer's drums. This leads into an exciting duo passage from electric bass and drums before Wooley's trumpet re-enters to take the piece into the next track.
The whole, hour-long piece moves very effectively through passages of great beauty and others of strong intensity. It certainly captures something of the atmosphere and force of a glacier through the use of Wooley's extended techniques on the trumpet and the idiosyncratic sounds of Halvorson's and Alcorn's guitars."-Tony Dudley-Evans, London Jazz News