Clifford Allen reviews the two latest AUM Fidelity releases, the Darius Jones Trio’s Man’ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing) and the Joe Morris Quartet’s Today On Earth, in the Autumn 2009 edition of Paris Transatlantic.

“Darius Jones’ art has an incredible purity and directness—what Cooper-Moore has called a ‘yes, sir’ quality,” Allen explains. “It’s a quality he shares with Sonny Simmons, Marion Brown and Charles Tyler, but the real connection is the respect instilled through absorbing the tradition and living history of musicianship.”

In his review of Today On Earth, Allen writes, “The Joe Morris Quartet plumbs the depths of postbop, building off the skewed rapport between [Jim] Hobbs and Morris: the guitarist’s flinty plucking and behind-the-beat chords are the left hand to the altoist’s acrid right. By now Morris’s longtime working group has established a language wholly its own, an ideal springboard for spindly inversions and lean fantasias.”

Photo by Peter Gannushkin

Firehouse 12’s fifth annual Fall Jazz Series reaches its midpoint tonight with a rare two-set performance by the electro-acoustic collective, ODE.

Founded in 2006, this trio of frequent collaborators, featuring saxophonist Larry Ochs, acoustic bassist Trevor Dunn and electric bassist/electronic sound manipulator Lisle Ellis, will be making its Connecticut debut.

The group will be joined for this occasion by special guest drummer Michael Sarin, best known to jazz fans for his long-term associations with Thomas Chapin, Dave Douglas and Mario Pavone among many others.

Photo by Erica Magrey

Roulette has posted an interview with violist/composer Jessica Pavone on its blog in advance of her upcoming concert on November 10th.

Ms. Pavone and the Toomai String Quintet will be celebrating the release of her new CD, Songs of Synastry and Solitude (Tzadik).

Photo by Joel Veak

Jon Garelick reviews the Darius Jones Trio’s October 19th CD release concert at Outpost 186 in this week’s issue of the Boston Phoenix. The group, which features alto saxophonist/composer Darius Jones, multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore and drummer Rakalam Bob Moses, was in town celebrating Jones’ recorded debut as a bandleader, Man’ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing) on AUM Fidelity.

“To call Darius Jones’s music avant-garde seems almost beside the point,” Garelick writes. “In its way, it’s older than old—it’s ancient. Jones likes churchy old blues, boogie-woogie, and the kind of folkish tunes that Albert Ayler used to write. He also shares Ayler’s moaning, wide-vibrato tone, if not the sainted saxophonist’s taste for single-minded, iron-jawed shrieking. But Jones has his own dignified way of testifying—big, long tones that patiently build to skirling figures and ululating shouts.”

Photo by Peter Gannushkin

On Friday, December 4th, New Haven’s Firehouse 12 will present acclaimed Brooklyn-based guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson and her newest ensemble, the Mary Halvorson Quintet. The group, which adds two horns to the longstanding trio that recorded Ms. Halvorson’s highly regarded 2008 debut, Dragon’s Head (Firehouse 12 Records), will feature Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Jon Irabagon (alto saxophone), John Hébert (bass) and Ches Smith (drums). This will be the band’s final performance before going into the studio a week later to record all new material for its forthcoming 2010 release on Firehouse 12 Records.

“Mary Halvorson is the freshest, busiest, most critically acclaimed guitar-slinger out of downtown Manhattan/Brooklyn right now,” declared eminent jazz critic/author Howard Mandel on his blog, Jazz Beyond Jazz. Critics have also called her “a new voice on the instrument” (Philip McNally, Cadence), “probably the most original jazz guitarist to emerge this decade” (Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader) and “the most impressive guitarist of her generation” (Troy Collins, AllAboutJazz.com). “She plays guitar in a way that fractures conventions,” added Steve Dollar in the New York Sun, “restlessly inventing her own paradigms.”

An active member of the diverse New York music scene since 2002, Ms. Halvorson has toured the globe with groups spanning a wide variety of genres. In addition to her trio and quintet, she co-leads a genre-defiant duo with violist Jessica Pavone, the avant-rock trio People and the improvising collective The Thirteenth Assembly. She is also a member of several of iconic saxophonist/composer Anthony Braxton’s ensembles, as well as groups led by Tim Berne, Taylor Ho Bynum, Trevor Dunn, Myra Melford, Tom Rainey and Marc Ribot among others. Her discography features nearly 25 releases on more than 15 labels, including her first effort as a bandleader, Dragon’s Head, which the New York Times‘ Nate Chinen called “one of the standout jazz albums of 2008.” Learn more at http://maryhalvorson.com

2009 Fall Jazz Series Schedule:

09/18 :: Brandon Ross & Blazing Beauty
09/25 :: Matt Wilson Quartet
10/02 :: Mauger: Rudresh Mahanthappa/Mark Dresser/Gerry Hemingway
10/09 :: Steve Lehman Trio
10/16 :: Gretchen Parlato Band
10/23 :: Whirrr! The Music of Jimmy Giuffre
10/30 :: Taylor Eigsti Trio
11/06 :: ODE: Larry Ochs/Trevor Dunn/Lisle Ellis/Michael Sarin
11/13 :: The Peter Evans Quartet
11/20 :: Darius Jones Trio
12/04 :: Mary Halvorson Quintet
12/11 :: Amy Cervini Quartet
12/18 :: Daniel Levin Trio

Tickets and more information available at:
http://firehouse12.com/performance_space_calendar.asp

Photo by Jean-Francois Laberine

On January 19th, Firehouse 12 Records will officially welcome esteemed pianist/composer Myra Melford to its roster with the release of The Whole Tree Gone (FH12-04-01-012), her first recording as a bandleader since 2006. Recorded in the label’s state-of-the-art studio, this is Ms. Melford’s second release with her longstanding ensemble Be Bread, which currently features Cuong Vu (trumpet), Ben Goldberg (clarinets), Brandon Ross (guitars), Stomu Takeishi (bass) and Matt Wilson (drums). It documents the latest evolution of eight original compositions she has been performing with this ensemble, and others, for the past five years. The band will celebrate its new release by touring both the East and West coasts in January.

“Most of the music on this record came from a suite titled The Whole Place Goes Up, written in the fall of 2004 with the support of a Chamber Music America grant,” Ms. Melford explains in the liner notes. “‘Moon Bird’ was written for a concert at the MOMA Sculpture Garden (NYC) in July 2005. Though originally written for Be Bread, I’ve enjoyed performing this music over the past few years with many wonderful musicians in several configurations, including the multimedia performance Knock on the Sky and my duo with Marty Ehrlich. My heartfelt gratitude to the musicians who’ve given a part of themselves to bring this music to life, and to all the other people who have inspired and supported my efforts in many ways for many years.”

Founded in 2002, Be Bread was conceived as an outlet for new compositions Ms. Melford wrote following an extended stay in India studying the harmonium as a Fulbright Scholar. The group has since utilized a variety of other timbres as well, including Ms. Melford’s melodica, Ross’ banjo and electronically manipulated sounds. Most recently, it has performed as an acoustic sextet focused on the instrumentation and commissioned suite of pieces heard on The Whole Tree Gone. Critics called Be Bread’s 2006 debut, The Image of Your Body (Cryptogramophone), “artful and intelligent” (Michael Keefe, PopMatters.com), “contemplative, introspective work” (Mike Shanley, JazzTimes) and “another superb release from Melford, whose evolution from a more aggressive free player to an equally unencumbered melodist is a path well worth following” (John Kelman, AllAboutJazz.com).

Over the course of two decades and more than 30 recordings, Ms. Melford has carved out a distinctive niche among the creative music’s most respected pianist-composers. Her signature sound skillfully combines early influences such as classical music and the traditional blues piano styles of her native Chicago with her later immersion in the music of Eastern Europe and India and extensive musical studies with such legendary figures as Ran Blake, Jaki Byard, Don Pullen and Henry Threadgill. In addition to Be Bread, she currently leads/co-leads a variety of ensembles, including Happy Whistlings, Trio M and duos with multi-instrumentalist Marty Ehrlich, pianist Satoko Fujii and dancer/choreographers Oguri and Dawn Akemi Saito. Since 2004, she has also served on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, where she develops and teaches courses about contemporary improvised music. Learn more at http://myramelford.com

Bynum-Hébert-Cleaver Trio

Tonight at The Rotunda in Philadelphia, the recently formed Taylor Ho Bynum-John Hébert-Gerald Cleaver Trio will finish its three-city tour before heading into the studio tomorrow to record its debut for the RogueArt label.

“These three are pacesetters in modern improvisation, so the very idea of their convergence as a trio is rich with promise,” writes Philadelphia Weekly’s David R. Adler. “Cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum has worked alongside Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton and other giants; his own bands include SpiderMonkey Strings and Positive Catastrophe. Bassist John Hébert played with the great Andrew Hill until the pianist’s death in 2007; he’s currently with Fred Hersch and leading his own Byzantine Monkey. Drummer Gerald Cleaver can wail with free-jazz icons like Roscoe Mitchell and Matthew Shipp, then turn around and offer swinging, melodic treasures with his own group Violet Hour. Together, they’ve got six wide-open ears and infinite musical options.”

Photo by Devin DeHaven

Grammy® nominated pianist/composer Taylor Eigsti will make his Firehouse 12 debut tonight as part of the New Haven venue’s fifth annual Fall Jazz Series.

This two-set performance is part of a short tour featuring his new trio with bassist Joshua Crumbly and drummer Aaron McClendon. The group is on the road working out material for its debut CD to be released early next year.

“Everyone who hears him seems to agree: Taylor Eigsti is the most exciting progressive-mainstream pianist to come along in a very long time,” writes AllAboutJazz.com’s Chris May.

Critics have noted his “intelligence, emotional depth, technical assurance and buoyant swing” (Robert Doerschuk, DownBeat), calling him “the real thing” (Kevin R. Convey, Boston Herald) and “an artist who has discovered his singular viewpoint and powerfully takes command” (Thomas R. Erdmann, JazzReview.com).

AllMusic.com’s Jonathan Widran adds, “There comes a time in every former prodigy’s life when he/she has to be judged by their output as an adult. Eigsti’s just keeps getting more compelling and inspiring.”

“Songs of Synastry and Solitude is full of lyrical beauty and lush melodicism,” writes Dusted’s Adam Strohm, “but it’s smart and spare, composed with an economy that never veers into anything saccharine. Performed with aplomb, these songs, no matter their tips of the hat, sound clean and fresh, imbued with an unobtrusive slice of personality. It’s further evidence (though, by now, hardly needed) that Jessica Pavone is a vital force in New York’s music community, capable and competent of playing way out in left field, or keeping things much closer to home.”

Excerpts from recent blog reviews of the Joe Morris Quartet’s Today On Earth (AUM Fidelity):

“The music, performed by Morris (guitar), Jim Hobbs (alto saxophone), Timo Shanko (bass) and Luther Gray (drums), holds up quite impressively under repeated listenings. The tracks are fairly long (4 over 10 minutes and only 1 under 7), but several of them move so gracefully (‘Observer’, ‘Ashes’) it’s easy to get lost in the sonic world the quartet creates. It’s been over 3 decades since Joe Morris first came to critical notice and he continues to grow as a composer and musician, creating challenging music for open minds.”
—Richard Kamins, Hartford Courant’s See! Hear!

“Joe Morris is having one of them crazy years. Nothing can seem to stop him, as he is releasing one CD after another. The latest—and best!—one is this studio session with his quartet. One of the best jazz albums of 2009.”
—François Couture, Monsieur Delire

“Four of the seven tracks on Today On Earth clock in at 10 or 11 minutes, and all of that time is well spent. Of his recent releases, this album is one of the best place to start (behind the Flow Trio), since its places his adventurous improvisational chops in a setting that makes them stand out even more.”
—Mike Shanley, shanleyonmusic

“…the main strength of the album is the truly wonderful compositions, which are refined, carefully structured, compelling and beautifully performed…here [Morris’] playing is much closer to the traditional jazz guitar, and I must say, it suits him well. And the band is absolutely stunning, in its pretenseless, unassuming playing, yet delivering a rare level of combined accuracy of tone and interaction, giving space, dialoguing well, giving the right emphasis at the right time, and adding loads of emotional depth: truly great. But as said, the real treat are the compositions, with themes like ‘Animal’ or ‘Observer’ that will keep ringing in your head long after you’ve stopped listening to the music.”
—Stef Gijssels, Free Jazz