Ballrogg: Cabin Music

Ballrogg (trio)

Cabin Music (Hubro Music; 2012)

Ivar Grydeland (guitar)

Klaus Ellerhusen Holm (sax, clarinet, electronics)

Roger Arntzen (bass)

Ballrogg started as a duo exploring minimalist motifs with guest musicians joining in the creation of their organic sounds. Now expanded to a full trio with the addition of Ivar Grydeland, Ballrogg feel very expansive and even more creative. With their brilliant new album, Cabin Music, you'll actually want to go out and tell as many friends as possible.

Opening on an experimental folk tone with "Swedish Country" uniquely describes the Scandinavian musical landscape. A rolling pattern led by Grydeland's pedal steel guitar and swirling notes from Ellerhusen on clarinet make this journey beautiful and transcendent.

"Sliding Doors" is built on a repeating chord led Arntzen. Rydeland and Ellerhusen both improvise around it with creative resonate effect. The piece has a number of ebbs and flows that eventually led to Ellerhusen's sax gently riding the piece to its closing.

A short album (four tracks at a total of 35 minutes), Cabin Music still conjures up a great deal of inventiveness. An interesting comparison might the American low-fi trio Low which has crafted this ethereal minimalist folk for over two decades. Ballrogg, though, have manage to add a cold European beauty this sound that makes more than just meditative. It becomes enriching, passionate and reflective. Cabin Music sees this new trio bursting with new found direction.

Alon Nechushtan: Dark Forces

Alon Nechushtan (piano, composer)

Dark Forces (Creative Sources Records; 2011)

Mark Dresser (bass)  Oleg Raskin (sax)

Ned Rothenberg (clarinet)  Robert Dick (flute)

Steve Swell (trombone)  Nate Wooley (trumpet)

Okkyung Lee (cello)  Eliot Sharp (guitar)

Henry Kaiser (guitar)  Briggan Kraus (sax)

Marcus Rojas (tuba)

I've only recently discovered Alon Nechushtan's music (as leader) over the last year. Releasing two radically different records in 2011 is surprising. But for both to be so solid and inspiring is strong evidence that Nechushtan is becoming a important name on the scene.


I've discussed his early 2011 album, Words Beyond, with the latter year end release of Dark Forces, Nechushtan has made wider leap forward in the avant garde community.

Dark Forces is cerebral--and yes, dark. You might even call it, "a headphone record." Originally written and performed in live in 2006 (only now finally put on record), is densely packed with layers of slightly audible tones. This is a large ensemble spread over ten movements. And while  each member doesn't really standout (probably by Nechushtan's design), the overall sum of the parts is intense and very rewarding.

"Dark Forces II" employes a number of manipulated effects and electronics surrounded by some haunting sounds by the wind instruments. With "Dark Force III," Nechushtan manages to blend an ethereal esthetic into classical realism which makes for a fascinating experience. Both Dresser and Lee have some heavy exchanges which carry the piece through beautifully.

"Dark Forces VII" rolls along hypnotically on the found sounds and Wooley's ghostly trumpet. The guitars quietly blend into the background allowing Rojas to rise up in the mix. "Dark Forces X" leaves its final impression like a piece that could easily slide along side a Throbbing Gristle record.

Dark Forces feels like it could easily be a work for installations or an experimental dance company. But as a stand alone piece, Dark Forces is a deceptively effective work from a composer who seems to be a great more adventurous with each record. Well worth seeking out.

McPhee & Haker-Flaten: Brooklyn DNA

Joe McPhee (sax, trumpet)

Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten (bass)

Brooklyn DNA (Clean Feed; 2012)

Revolving around the organic energy of Brooklyn (a borough of New York City), Joe McPhee and Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten create a work that is inspired by their surroundings as well as their jazz forefathers. Brooklyn DNA is one of those shining beacons that helps others see the vibrancy and diversity of New York free form scene.

"Crossing The Bridge" and "Spirit Cry" quietly bring the listener into the spacious and inventive quarters of these renown musicians. A playful march with beautiful intersecting lines by McPhee that connect the two opening pieces with crisp fluidity. Haker-Flaten's bass lines, while improvised, are subtle but matches McPhee chords with every step.

The ballad "Blue Coronet," dedicated to the famous jazz club of the '60s, is a late night walk on the streets, feeling the vibe of the neighborhood and how it influences your sound and vision. "Here And Now" is the perfect conclusion to this journey. A number that embodies the jazz scene today while still reflective of the traditions it's built on. Calm improvisational chords by both musicians bold lines and immediacy as the piece reaches its latter stages.

Brooklyn DNA is not just a travelogue through the boroughs great jazz history, its a document of the quiet brilliance of two intercontinental musicians. Highly Recommended.

Resonance Ensemble: What Country Is This?

Resonance Ensemble

What Country Is This? (Not Two Records; 2012)

Ken Vandermark (sax, clarinet) 
Mikolaj Trzaska (sax, clarinet)
Michael Zerang (drums)
Tim Daisy (drums)
Steve Swell (trombone)
Per -Ake Holmander (tuba)
Dave Rempis (sax)
Magnus Broo (trumpet)
Waclaw Zimpel (clarinet)

One of Ken Vandermark's larger ensembles, Resonance, has always expressed itself with poetic vibrancy. On the groups latest, What Country Is This?, they again explore sound through a series of rising arches and steady calms. And as usual, spanning three long epic pieces that investigate some of the influences of Vandermark.

"Fabric Monument" (dedicated to Polish poet, Czeslaw Milosz) drops down like an anvil with intersecting horn sections opening up in fine Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler fashion while later settling down into a dark sprawling, almost New Orleans funeral celebration. The second piece "Acoustic Fence" illustrates a series of ascending themes with the ensemble in devilish marching mode. Dedicated to the great Polish composer, Witold Lutoslawski, this piece has multiple layers and varying harmonic structures. Broo and Swell lead the group through a series of crackling improvised movements off-set by some terrific work on the drums by Daisy and Zerang.

The final piece is dedicated to the late, Fred Anderson. "Open Window Theory," is a great showcase of how the American and European free form ethos has evolved over the last two decades. Opening brightly and hovering just overhead, Vandermark and company deliver a message that has a chamber ensemble quality to it. The sound is broken into jagged chords and quickly electrified by Trzaska and Zimpel. Rempis, Vandermark and Holmlander each pour a great deal of haunting muted tones across the canvas before the rest of the group rejoin and turn the piece into a funky, Chicago blues style portrait. While Anderson was never a funky player, Resonance show the explosive and exploratory nature that embodied Anderson's music for over four decades.

Vandermark's Resonance Ensemble continues to astound with each record. What Country Is This? is just another brick in the foundation of one his best ensembles outside of the Vandermark 5. Definitely an album of the year on our desk. But isn't every Ken Vandermark record!?!