Ellman Options

Jason Robinson - The Two Faces Of Janus (2010) {Cuneiform Records RUNE311 rec 2009}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 470 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb
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© 2010 Cuneiform Records / Jason Robinson | RUNE 311
Jazz / Experimental Jazz / Modern Jazz / Saxophone

Currently serving as Assistant Professor of Music at Amherst College in Massachusetts, multi-reedist Jason Robinson originally obtained his Ph.D. in music from the University of California. A promising new arrival to the East Coast scene, Robinson's academic background imbues his episodic writing with an organically cohesive sensibility, while his years spent co-leading the longstanding bicoastal ensembles Cosmologic and the Cross Border Trio lend his focused improvisations a warm, economical lyricism.

In for a Penny, In for a Pound is the latest installment in saxophonist/ flutist/composer Henry Threadgill’s ongoing exploration of his singular system for integrating composition with group improvisation. The music for his band Zooid – his main music-making vehicle for the past fourteen years and the longest running band of his illustrious forty plus-year career – is no less than his attempt to completely deconstruct standard jazz form, steering the improvisatory language towards an entirely new system based on preconceived series of intervals. His compositions create a polyphonic platform that encourages each musician to improvise with an ear for counterpoint and, in the process, creating striking new harmonies.

Stephan Crump - Reclamation (2010) {Sunnyside SSC1243 rec 2009}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 197 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 116 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 11 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2010 Sunnyside | SSC 1243
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop / Bass

Stephan Crump's early period as a leader and premier young bass player in progressive jazz, plus his substantive time with pianist Vijay Iyer, might not have prepared his fans properly for this collaboration as the Rosetta Trio. For their second CD, Crump, acoustic guitarist Liberty Ellman, and electric guitarist Jamie Fox present an unexpected and satisfying collection of tunes that are very soulful, thoughtful, and passionate. It's not that those elements are a new wrinkle, but here are more roundly rendered and pleasantly listenable while retaining a modern and creative base.

Having a String Choir perform The Music of Paul Motian is certainly an attention-grabber if one knows anything about Paul Motian's contributions to the jazz world. Motian is a veteran drummer and a composer, not a member of a chamber group (although he started out on guitar early in his career before making the drums his main instrument). So what does a Motian-related project have to do with strings? This early-2010 recording, it turns out, finds guitarist Joel Harrison paying tribute to Motian with the help of fellow guitarist Liberty Ellman and a string quartet consisting of Christian Howes and Sam Bardfeld on violin, Dana Leong on cello, and Mat Maneri or Peter Ugrin on viola.

Walter Wolfman Washington is a soulful musician of rare talent, as well as a deep thinker and hip philosopher, and his hometown is New Orleans. Walter has cut his teeth for the last 50 years playing everywhere from European festivals to bars that Google Maps will never find. New Orleans is notorious for its wildness, parades, and celebrations. New Orleans is Mardi Gras, but it’s also the uptown class of Allen Toussaint and hip style and language of Dr. John. Walter has always embodied both, but finally we have a set of songs that reflects the yin to Walter’s bring-the-party yang. This is the record that we all have known he has in him. This is the night after that party, or maybe just the after party. He’s been given free rein to express himself, and that’s special.