The Squid's Ear Magazine


Stein, Jason (Stein / Abrams / Cleaver / Boon): Anchors (Tao Forms)

Chicago-based bass clarinetist-composer Jason Stein returns from a six-year hiatus as bandleader with a beautifully personal, nuanced, and expansive album, created with bassist Joshua Abrams (Natural Information Society), drummer Gerald Cleaver, and guitarist and co-producer Boon, in a suite of seven Stein compositions ranging from meditative calm to gripping intensity.
 

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Personnel:



Jason Stein-bass clarinet

Joshua Abrams-bass

Gerald Cleaver-drums

Dante Boon-guitar


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UPC: 642623801628

Label: Tao Forms
Catalog ID: TAO 016CD
Squidco Product Code: 35174

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2024
Country: USA
Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel
Recorded at Electrical Audio, in Chicago, Illinois, on December 19th and 20th, 2022, by Greg Norman.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Anchors are, so often, symbolic of strength and stability. They reflect our capacity to steady ourselves in turbulent waters, allow- ing us to traverse the deepest seas. With Anchors aboard, we can quell our fears, weather the storm, and chart forth. In all their looming weight, Anchors allow us to be free.

Jason Stein's latest release is a luminous tribute to Anchors of his own. Here, he honors the practices that enable him to endure and embrace periods of change. Amidst the discomfort of transformation, he reaches into a reservoir of resilience, and invites us to do the same.

With Anchors, Stein emerges from a six-year hiatus as a bandleader to offer his most personal, nuanced, and expansive album yet. Lauded by peers and critics alike for his intrepid exploration of the bass clarinet's full expressive range, Jason Stein has been an integral part of the free and improvised music community for more than twenty years. His sound seamlessly modulates in form and style, shape-shifting with technical dexterity in swells of rich emotion. The notoriously difficult horn, so often tinkered and toyed with, finds itself in loyal hands.

For Stein, an unrelenting dedication to practice is a sacred pursuit in and of itself. In its repetition and struggle, he understands discipline to be a vessel for expansion. There's a mentality, here, that's inherited from the greats. Think Sonny Rollins, playing day after day over the roaring traffic of the Williamsburg Bridge. Seeking not to be heard, but to find something worth saying.

If discipline is an anchor in Stein's life and musical practice, so too is his innate and insatiable curiosity. What a stroke of luck, then, that he should study under the prolific percussionist and polymath, Milford Graves. As a professor of music at Bennington College, Graves taught his students to reject the one-track mindedness and compartmentalization thrust upon them. He called for an integration of improvisation into every facet of life, fully aware that its teachings in adaptability, flexibility, and deep-listening could trans- form the world far beyond the confines of a sound booth or a stage. Graves stretched and disassembled the boundaries between disciplines, integrating music with the healing arts. In his wake, he left visionary legacies, both vast and varied.

Graves' enigmatic example shaped Stein's own path for years to come. When Stein confronted a perplexing injury that threatened to end his career, he realized his musical pursuits could not be divorced from a holistic corporeal practice. Rooted in Graves' teach- ings, Stein explored a myriad of healing arts, adopting a series of disciplines along the way. Through the regular practice of cold-water plunges and breathwork, he discovered a newfound connection between his body and his instrument. Through the study of myofascial trigger point therapy, Stein was able to locate the source of his injury, and heal it. Decades after his first exploration in the field, Stein is now a licensed trigger point therapist himself, and the healing practices he adopted years ago remain Anchors in his life to this day. For Stein, the boundaries between instrument and body continue to blur. Anchors, in many ways, confronts this innate, inevitable, and often fraught connection.

The album is derived from a series of thematic vignettes, blending traditional notation with conceptual composition. The trio explores and emulates each conceptual vignette, often quite literally. As their interpretations take shape, poetic landscapes emerge, both stark and blooming. Stein is joined by bassist Joshua Abrams and drummer Gerald Cleaver, two illustrious improvisers rooted as much in the jazz tradition as they are in contemporary experimental approaches. Abrams' grounding in multifarious music traditions gives way to a visionary synthesis of styles, perhaps most apparent in his acclaimed ensemble Natural Information Society. Stein has recorded and toured with the group since 2017, and the unmistakable intuitive interplay between these long-time collaborators is a through line on Anchors. Gerald Cleaver, a defining stylist in the international jazz community, works here with Stein for the first time, shaping the record with a skillful prowess as impressive as his distinctive sound. Together, Abrams and Cleaver bring their inimitable sensitivity and discernment to Anchors, illuminating each composition with vivid depth and buoyancy.

The record begins with "Anchor I", a duet between guitar and bass clarinet. The piece carries the listener in phrases that circle and swirl in waves, rhythmically unbound. By the record's end, "Anchor II" settles into a sense of stillness - a peace found in unison. These meditations cultivate a sense of intimacy that permeates through- out the record, each an anchor of its own.

In "An Origin", Stein considers the root of suffering. A single note pulses again and again, embodying the agony of chronic pain. Morphing only in timbre, it seems the note may never end. As the piece unfolds, overtones begin to distort the pitch, slowly breaking the note apart in an anguished search. Abrams' somber, unnerving interlude buries the listener in a searing sense of hopelessness, begging the question, "What is the source of this pain?" Pain felt in one part of the body can originate, undetected, from another. In "An Origin", Stein seeks its source.

In "Crystalline", Stein contends with the destructive power of stagnation, a form of suffering so often self-imposed. Here, the conceptual composition calls on the trio to "consider the process of ice freezing as a proxy for relationships and development." Throughout the piece, the band's interpretation mirrors this metaphor, shaping sounds as delicate and jagged as the formation of ice. Abrams' high arco and Stein's altissimo flit amidst Cleaver's shimmering symbols, light and unfettered. Slowly, an interlocking harmonic structure takes form, giving way to a clear, cutting geometry. Water molecules that once flowed freely slowly reconfigure, and lock into place.

As Stein descends into his final note in "Crystalline", we feel the claustrophobia of ice forming around us, and the sinking sense that we are stuck. Low and ominous, he recedes, leaving Cleaver's solo to echo across the desolate landscape left behind. Seemingly strong in their rigidity, the bonds between molecules are, in fact, more fragile, once reconfigured as ice. And isn't this akin to our own faulty defenses? When we ignore our instincts, denying ourselves the very changes we need to evolve, our bodies retract. Restriction and stagnation fuel our own fragility. Better to be like water, then; too soft to break.

In response to these explorations of suffering, Stein introduces the listener to two centuries-old practices that cultivate alignment in his own life. "Cold Water" and "Holding Breath" explore these physical rituals of deprivation, which teach us to confront a painful truth - that discomfort is sometimes necessary for growth. When we endure a cessation of breath for minutes at a time, or immersion in cold water, our resilience is illuminated. Through an understanding of hormesis, we know that the body benefits from selective biological stress. As we learn to relax amidst unsettling deprivation, our brainwaves shift, altering our perceptions. From the doldrums, we break free.

"Cold Water" explodes in a chaotic, reeling burst. Frenetic and surging, splattered with shrieks and cries, Stein's masterful use of multiphonics mimics the mind's desperate attempts to find calm amidst the physical turmoil of a cold plunge. In "Holding Breath", the bass clarinet's strained spurts open into rich, rolling arpeggios, mirroring the dissipation of distress into a deep calm. Stein's most experimental and non-idiomatic playing on the record gives way to a soaring sense of reconnection, as Abrams' walk and Cleaver's swinging stride emerge and hit their groove. Bound to breath and cold water, Stein finds a sense of arrival - an alignment all his own.

As we navigate our lives, seeking relief from our suffering, there are Anchors we reach for, and those we stumble upon. "Boon" is an ode to the moments that give us new life when we find ourselves untethered. Here, rapid lines dance across the harmonic landscape, dreamy and daring, an embodiment of the freedom we experience when we are willing to embrace transformation. No matter our path, or the practices we keep, time transcends - the tides take their turns - and beauty permeates the world around us, unbothered. Stein's incandescent compositions are an invitation to relish in the blessings of the universe, lift our Anchors, and chart forth, heart in hand.- Boon, Chicago, March 2024

Also available as a Vinyl LP.

Artist Biographies

"Jason Stein was born in 1976 and is originally from Long Island, New York. Stein is one of the few musicians working today to focus entirely on the bass clarinet as a jazz and improvisational instrument. He studied at Bennington College with Charles Gayle and Milford Graves, and at the University of Michigan with Donald Walden and Ed Sarath. In 2005, Stein relocated to Chicago and has since recorded for such labels as Leo, Delmark, Atavistic, 482 Music and Clean Feed. Stein has performed throughout the US and Europe, including performances in festivals in Lisbon, Cracow, Utrecht, Barcelona, Debreccen and Ljubljana. He has had the opportunity to perform with a number of exciting local and international musicians including: Michael Moore, Jeff Parker, Oscar Noriega, Rudi Mahall, Ken Vandermark, Rob Mazurek, Jeb Bishop, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten, Urs Leimgruber, Pandelis Karayorgis, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Tony Buck, Eric Boren, Kent Kessler, Tobias Delius, Michael Zerang, Michael Vatcher, Peter Brotzman, and Wilbert DeJoode."

-Jason Stein Website (http://jasonsteinmusic.com/biography)
11/29/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Bassist, Composer Joshua Abrams has been in the thick of Chicago's vibrant music scene for fifteen years, playing & recording as leader & sideman in projects across the genres. he co-founded the "back porch minimalist" band town & country (thrill jockey/box media) & with Matana Roberts & Chad Taylor the trio sticks & stones (thrill jockety/482 music). He has released four records under his own name as well as two under the moniker "reminder" that navigate the realms of jazz & improvisation, electro-acoustic composition, beatmaking, minimalism and field recordings (eremite/delmark/eastern developments/lucky kitchen). He has appeared on over 50 recordings including records by Fred Anderson, Hamid Drake & Bindu, Bonny "prince" Billy, Nicole Mitchell Black Earth Ensemble and Black Earth Strings, Sam Prekop, Mike Reed's Loose Assembly, Ernest Dawkins Chicago 12, Savath & Savalis, Prefuse 73, Rhys Chatham, Rob Mazurek, Tortoise, the Roots, Edith Frost, Mia Doi Todd, Diverse, Joan of Arc, Lorren Mazzacane Connors, David Grubbs, David Boykin, Chris Conelly, & the Cairo Gang. He has performed with Roscoe Mitchell, Bill Dixon, Von Freeman, Fred Anderson trio, John Tchicai, the Exploding Star Orchestra, Henry Grimes, Axel Dorner, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Peter Evans, Damo Suzuki, Wilbert de Joode, Jandek, Walter Wierbos, Tony Conrad, Bobby Broom, Sean Bergin, Nate Wooley, Craig Taborn, David Stakenas, Fred Hopkins, Rhys Chatham, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Neil Michael Hagerty, Lin Halliday, Raymond Strid, Douglas Ewart, Toumani Diabate, the Chicago Underground Orchestra, Ron Dewar, Baby d, Kevin Drumm, Terry x, Frederick Lvunquist, Jim o'Rourke, Kurt Vonnegut, & Earle Brown. When in chicago he plays weekly with Jeff Parker and John Herndon."

-Nicole Mitchell Website (http://nicolemitchell.com/joshua-abrams)
11/29/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Gerald Cleaver (born May 4, 1963) is an African-American jazz drummer from Detroit, Michigan. Cleaver's father is drummer John Cleaver Jr., originally from Springfield, Ohio, and his mother was from Greenwood, Mississippi. Gerald had six older siblings. Cleaver joined the jazz faculty at the University of Michigan in 1995. He has performed or recorded with Joe Morris, Mat Maneri, Roscoe Mitchell, Miroslav Vitous, Michael Formanek, Tomasz Sta ko, Franck Amsallem and others.

Under the name Veil of Names, Cleaver released an album called Adjust on the Fresh Sounds New Talent label in 2001. It featured Maneri, Ben Monder, Andrew Bishop, Craig Taborn and Reid Anderson and was a Best Debut Recording Nominee by the Jazz Journalists Association. Cleaver currently leads the groups Uncle June, Black Host, Violet Hour and NiMbNl as well as working as a sideman with many different artists."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Cleaver_(musician))
11/29/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Dante Boon (1973) is a Dutch composer and pianist living in Amsterdam.

At the age of 14, he started his piano studies at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatorium. At the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, he studied composition with Diderik Wagenaar.

After having been the keyboard player and arranger for a major Dutch rock band for several years, he went back to the classical, especially contemporary piano repertoire.

With Samuel Vriezen, he recorded Tom Johnson's Symmetries (piano four hands) for Karnatic Lab Records. Recordings for other labels include works by Rozalie Hirs (Attacca Records) and Philip Corner (New World Records). his first solo CD cage. frey. vriezen. feldman. ayres. johnson .manion was released 2010 on Edition Wandelweiser Records to international critical acclaim."

-Dante Boon Website (http://www.danteboon.com/dante_boon.html)
11/29/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Anchor I 2:43

2. Boon 3:37

3. Crystalline 7:28

4. Cold Water 6:31

5. An Origin 7:13

6. Holding Breath 12:06

7. An Anchor II 2:14

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
Jazz & Improvisation Based on Compositions
Melodic and Lyrical Jazz
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Recent Releases and Best Sellers
New in Improvised Music

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Tao Forms.


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