An unusual conglomerate of styles across 2 CDs from bassist Moppa Elliott, featuring three bands: Advancing on a Wild Pitch, his jazz band with Danny Fox, Christian Coleman, Sam Kulik & Charles Evans; Unspeakable Garbage, his rock band with Jon Irabagon and Nick Millevoi; and the 9-piece "dance" band Acceleration Due To Gravity with Nate Wooley, Ava Mendoza, Mike Pride, &c.
Each of the compositions from bassist Moppa Elliot for this trio version of MOPDTK with Ron Stabinsky on piano & synthesizer and Kevin Shea on drums & synthesizer, is named after a Pennsylvania town that has experienced a disaster, including floods, fires, nuclear meltdowns, &c, re-imagining each event through complex and surprisingly lyrical compositions.
After a few years of working, touring and one-off performances in New York City with Mazz Swift (violin & voice), Ron Stabinsky (synthesizers) and Levy Lorenzo (percussion & electronics), trumpeter Peter Evans recorded this incredible album, a new direction in his work with small ensembles, incorporating electronics into his exceptional compositions for creative improvisation.
An unusual quintet of prominent New York improvisers--Peter Evans on trumpet, Tim Dahl on bass violin, Matt Nelson on tenor saxophone, and Ron Stabinsky on bass--performing Nandor Nevai's compositions: two Quintets and the two part "Sap Gloves"--Nevai performing on tenor sax, voice and conducting, blurring modern improv, chamber jazz and bizarre spoken word moments; outstanding and unsettling.
Composer Andrew Lafkas' large ensemble piece with performers including C. Spencer Yah, Ron Stabinsky, Barry Weisblat, Sean Meehan, Ben Owen, &c. is a meditative work intended for live performance, this album the 2nd of 3 performances, a brooding and resonant rendering of rich and subtle detail that evolves over 70 minutes, carrying its listeners in a profound revery.
The first release by the piano trio configuration of Mostly Other People Do the Killing features bassist/composer Moppa Elliott, pianist Ron Stabinsky, and drummer Kevin Shea, with each composition named after a small town in Pennsylvania that contains a color, and the town of "Paint, PA" lent its name to the title, with one apt Duke Ellington cover.
NY Composer and Zs founder Alex Mincek's first release since 2011 also launches Sound American's Young Composer Portrait series, presenting 4 chamber works--"Pendulum VII"; selected movements from "Harmonielehre"; "Pneuma"; and "Torrent"--performed by Wet Ink Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, and Yarn/Wire, in a deluxe hardcover book package with interviews and notes.