David Phillips Freedance, Confluence

Acoustic bassist-composer David Phillips has been leading his unit Freedance off-and-on for a very long time now. He did a very nice album on Naxos some time ago, a few more here and there and now he is back with the original lineup of himself on bass, John O'Gallagher on alto sax, Tony Moreno, drums, and the by now rather well known guitarist Rez Abbasi. They are joined by Glen Fitten, percussion, and Jon Werking on piano as needed. All on the new album Confluence (Innova 837)...

David writes well-conceived compositions and this album bears that out. They are diverse, harmonically-melodically-rhythmically lively vehicles for the sort of sophisticated jazz-with-rock-heft style the band does so well.

There is a strong improvised component to this band as you might expect. Rez Abbasi sounds as stunning as ever on guitar, whether it's developing a line that has its own east-west logic or getting some great chordal ideas in play, he is rapidly becoming a seminal force out there. John O'Gallagher has a fluidly cool-to-hot alto tone and improvisational ideas that work well within the compositional frameworks. There is a post-bop fluidity that he and Rez share and when they solo simultaneously it is quite wonderful for the kinetic excitement they generate together. Dave is an excellent bassist who does much more than standard background duties in this or any other of his albums. His solos are vibrant-toned lyrical gems. And Tony Moreno gets an excellent rapport going with him at the same time as he gives everything a subtle push. Jon Werking comes off sounding good in his solo spots as well. Glen Fitten makes some good sounds when called upon. And so that is the band. . .

It's all about a balance between jazz composition and group presence here. This is jazz-rock with a mind, so to speak. It is a beautiful combination of excellent players and compositions that suit them. Many stars for this one, if I had a star system (which I don't). Give it an earful.

Rez Abbasi, Things to Come, 2009

Readers of my blogs know that I do not restrict myself only to the very latest releases, the flavors of the month. The idea is that good and great music may not have been recorded and released yesterday, and so it is never a bad idea to consider something that's been out for a while.

Such a recording is guitarist Rez Abbasi's Things to Come (Sunnyside 1236). It's Rez on guitar with the nucleus of the Indo-Pak Coalition that has been so fruitful for all concerned: Rudresh Mahanthappa on alto, Vijay Iyer on piano, and Dan Weiss on drums. Also appearing on this album are Johannes Weidenmeuller on acoustic bass, Mike Block, cello, and some beautiful vocals by Kiran Ahluwalia.

A look at Google makes it clear this album has gotten quite a few reviews. So I wont belabor the obvious. What's important: the wide-ranging chromatic soloing by Rez, Rudresh and Vijay, Peter's rhythmically advanced drumming and Kiran's classical Indo-Pak oriented vocals. This is Indo-Pak fusion, which is to say it is informed by the classical South Asian tradition. "Informed" is probably a good word because Abbasi and company have very much incorporated that influence into their own way of playing and improvising. The compositions sometimes have the melodic motion of the Carnatic tradition, for example, but essentially with differing note-cells. That same can be said for the rhythm. This is first and foremost a modern jazz form, electric, fused. It is a wonderful showcase for the unique style of the principal soloists--Rez, Rudresh and Vijay--and a platform to incorporate Ms. Ahluwalia's angelic vocals.

It is essential listening if you want to know what modern jazz has going for it. Rez and company have carved out their own niche and it is a vital one.

Guitarist Rez Abbasi's Acoustic Quartet, "Natural Selection"

The instrumentation of vibes, piano, bass and drums became something quite significant with the advent, singularity and longevity of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Add a guitar and you had the Gary Burton-Keith Jarrett ensemble for their influential recording around 15 years after that. Come up the years to 2010, take away the piano, and you get the Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet, shown to excellent advantage on the recent CD Natural Selection (Sunnyside 1264).

The MJQ of course used their instrumentation to get a sound nobody else had come up with before. Each player had a specific role to play and the sum total was extraordinarily fresh and new. The same thing could be said about that Burton-Jarrett gathering. And, yes, the Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet has yet another something going for it.

The premises are simple. Rez sticks to an acoustic guitar; Bill Ware is on vibraphone; there's Stephan Crump on acoustic bass; and Eric McPherson mans the drums. Just because this is an acoustic band though it doesn't mean that they play some kind of fossilized pre-electric music. The all-acoustic instruments give them a sound potential that they realize in ways that are modern, in the sense of being made and conceived today, and the individual personalities of the musicians and the direction they take on the six Abbasi originals and four "covers" are most definitely their own.

There are no "standards" in the typical sense here. A number by the aforementioned Jarrett, a Joe Henderson number, Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" and a piece by the famed devotional singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. What matters, though, is that they make each of the pieces their own.

And the group texture is not delicate, but aerated, so to say, by the natural ringing qualities of struck vibes and cymbals, by bright guitar chords, anchored by acoustic bass and bass drum. The music then is chiming in its way, but it is not overly polite or drained of spirit. Eric McPherson and Stephen Crump drive the group with direct but elaborate rock-swing channels of expression. Bill Ware's vibraphone pivots between the natural percussiveness of the instrument and the melodic-harmonic possibilities it has latent in its make up. Bill is equally a key ensemble member and has a very convincingly hip way of comping as well as a nicely developed solo presence.

And then there is Rez. This is an outstanding outing for him as a guitarist and as a composer-arranger of the material. Because of the style parameters (Indo-Pak, "fusion") he comes out of one automatically thinks of John McLaughlin, with or without Shakti, and has expectations from exposure to that. Rez goes his own way though. He plays ravishing lines and shows harmonically-melodically that he thinks differently than John.

The end effect is of a program of exceptional merit. The pieces have beauty, the playing is exemplary and Rez Abassi shows that he has a great deal of depth to what he does and can do. It gives notice that he has arrived, truly, as a guitar-playing force, a real artist, a fully developed plectrologist at the top of the heap.

Excellent, excellent music here. This is one that you should spring for if you have the coin. It pays you back with much musical interest!

David Phillips and Freedance, 1995

Originally posted on January 2, 2008

Happy New Year! May it be less miserable than the last one. The internet is so slow this morning that it is almost impossible to call up anything. Growl. . . .Today is a day for some worthy jazz. There’s a group called David Phillips & Freedance, or sometimes just Freedance, and they have been together for some time.

They did a self-titled CD for Naxos in 1995 and it is worth picking up. The group consists of sax, drums, bass and guitar and they are in a good place on the progressive jazz map, just bordering on fusion without going there. They write interesting numbers and improvise with assurance and verve. The guitarist, Rez Abbasi has his own voice—pretty electric, a little John Abercrombie and a little of his Indian background. He should be heard by anyone interested in the idiom. And this CD is a very good listen in general.