Gavin Harrison and 05Ric, The Man Who Sold Himself

Gavin Harrison? Porcupine Tree's drummer. 05Ric? Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, bassist. Their third album, The Man Who Sold Himself (Kscope 5:1 DVD and CD) came out last February and it's a beauty. It has some of the art-song-meets-fusion qualities of classic Allan Holdsworth & IOU, it has the push and thrust of later King Crimson, and it manages to evoke all that without sounding like all that.

Gavin's drumming is superb, as is 05Ric's bass playing. The vocals are right on, the musical backgrounds always interesting and space-ly hip, and sometimes more than that too (like some of the guitar work), and the songs are grab-worthy.

So how come I am just coming to this one? I am running late. Better Nate than Lever Brothers?

Oh ye prog, fuze, post-progs and post-fuzes! Do not miss this one.

Michael Musillami Trio + 4, "Mettle," Advanced Jazz for Septet

Guitarist, jazz composer, bandleader. Any one of these things is tough enough to do when you are putting forward an advanced sort of progressive semi-electric jazz, as is Michael Musillami with his Trio + 4 and their album Mettle (Playscape 070111). Yet Micheal does all these things rather exceptionally well. His trio of self, Joe Fonda, bass, and George Schuller, drums, has held together, gigged and recorded a fair number of albums so far, getting more intensely together, tighter in a telepathic sense. Now they bring in four additional soloists/ensemble members for a quite ambitious program. There isn't a single slouch in the bunch: Matt Moran, vibes, Russ Johnson, trumpet, Jeff Lederer, tenor & clarinet, and Ned Rothenberg on alto & clarinet. They add much in a collective and solo sense to the music.

And of course you have the formidable, keen-edged sensibilities of the trio as backbone. Musillami plays a grinding, driving post-fusion guitar with a sound, rhythmic push and inventive notefulness that puts him on his own plane. Fonda and Schuller work together with a beautiful free-swing loose-tightness.

The compositions are weighty, the arrangements strong, the band cooks, the soloists get torque collectively and individually.

It's a bit of a monster. A nice monster of a set. Get it.

Kronomorfic Makes A Kind of Musical Magic

Some music sneaks up on you. You listen once and you think, "that's pretty interesting," but you don't drop what you are doing and run around the block shouting the news. Then later after more listens you start to appreciate the subtleties that only become apparent in time. That's how I experienced the Kronomorfic album Micro Temporal Infundibula (pfMentum CD059).

It's a collective of musicians with an improvisational-compositional agenda that doesn't quite fit into the typical pigeonholes ready-made to ease any uncertainties. It's a six-member outfit. David Borgo plays reeds, wrote one of the pieces, and arranged the music; Paul Pellegrin is a polyrhythmic force on drums and percussion and wrote eight of the compositions; Bill Barrett plays a lively chromatic harmonica; Junior Garrison plays a very atmospheric electric guitar; Nathan Hubbard gives the ensemble aural character on vibes and marimba; Danny Weller is on doublebass and pinions the groove and fundamentals nicely.

The music has an almost through-composed aspect to it. There are metrical grooves, highly interesting voicings for the ensemble, interestingly atypical melodies, contrapuntal ensemble densities that keep interest levels high, and some very worthy improvisations, especially from David Borgo. The improvisational and compositional elements integrate so well that the distinctions become less important in light of the total ensemble experience.

This is a kind of jazz that that grooves as it also provides some quite sophisticated musical fare. There are African influences and much else besides. Kronomorfic is a total pleasure for those with ears hungry for something beyond the ordinary. Very much recommended.

Music by Dan Kaufman, Poetry by Paul Celan

Originally posted on June 9, 2008

Combinations of poetry and music can be great or just awful. Much has to do with, of course, the appropriateness and listenable qualities of the music vis-à-vis the poetry. Dan Kaufman has compiled a set of post-fusion music that is inspired by, and includes recitations of, the poetry of Paul Celan. (Force of Light) (Tzadik Records).

The CD works on the ideal level: the poetry illuminates the music and vice versa. This is a sober look at the 20th century from a poetic yet tragic Jewish point of view. It is seen as lacking in almost every respect. May we do better in this age beyond. Prepare to be moved.