Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society - Mandatory Reality (2021 eremite records)

Sometime in the early 2000s I went to see the band Town and Country and remember wishing that their tunes went on longer. They were clearly referencing Minimal music, but without its durational aspect. Since that band’s demise, Josh Abrams has made a series of hypnotic albums with his own group, Natural Information Society, in a different, more jazz-based direction than Town and Country. Magnetoception’s double album format allowed for an marked expansion of material; loosening some of the time restrictions let the music’s repetitions really take hold, and now with Mandatory Reality, another double album, he has made what can only be called an epic.

The pieces are structured within a properly Minimalist framework, and the track lengths are extended even more dramatically to do so. Twenty or even forty minute running times are not so unusual for exploratory jazz, where solo space tends to be left open-ended, but there are few solos on Mandatory Reality. NIS is an all-acoustic ensemble here, which reinforces the chamber music vibe; eliminating electric guitars and drum kits this time removes the hints of rock, fusion or African pop music found in prior NIS lineups.

The haunting “Memory’s Prism” starts off with guimbri and autoharp playing a simple repeated scalar figure, in the tradition of many of Don Cherry’s melodies (such guimbri patterns are the foundation of much of NIS’ music). A few sustained notes are chosen to hover above it in succession, recalling Minimalist classics like Philip Glass’ Music With Changing Parts and Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together; as denser harmonies are added, the figure shifts but the tonal center stays ambiguous. When “Finite” starts, one can’t help but notice how similar its basic melody is to “Memory’s Prism”—it turns out that “Memory’s Prism” grew out of “Finite.” “Finite”’s tempo is slightly faster, but it introduces instruments more gradually. Following the guimbri, the horns disperse the melody, each taking a single note separately, spatialized in the stereo image. At one point they start to stretch the pitches out, sax and piano adding filigrees (the sax quoting a Coltrane solo, from “Spiritual”). 

The guimbri phrase goes through different permutations, with notes being subtly subtracted as the piece goes on; twenty minutes in, the changes become more noticeable as the guimbri figure is now half as long as it was when it started. Over the next twenty minutes the guimbri part is further broken down until it’s a single note, with the instruments playing in unison on every beat. This makes for a natural lead-in to “Shadow Conductor,” a shorter piece of fast, jabbing eighth notes, much like Julius Eastman’s four-piano works from the late 70s and somewhat similar to the beginning of “Ophlucus” from NIS’s Simultonality LP. 

The feeling, though, is more hushed than frantic. There’s a tension in the close intervals, and again some sustained tones are overlaid, as on “Memory’s Prism.” Everyone joins in on wooden flutes for “Agree,” either letting long notes twist microtonally or contributing rapidly chattering high pitches. Its ghostly ambience can also found in John Stevens/Spontaneous Music Orchestra’s ’ “Sustained Piece” or Cornelius Cardew’s The Great Learning, where massed voices carry drone tones in artless concordance.

While Minimalism has roots in modal jazz, among other things, there has been very little crossover --Stevens’ free music/drone pieces c. 1970 (as heard on For You To Share) were an early experiment, Terry Riley’s 1975 concert and radio sessions with Don Cherry in Köln & Marion Brown’s appearance on Harold Budd’s Pavilion of Dreams being rare meetings of the two worlds. Both the Shandar and India Navigation labels released albums by free jazz and Minimalist composers in the 70s, though without connecting the dots.  Mandatory Reality is a bold statement that dives headlong into the possibilities of this largely unknown lineage, a fully realized reckoning of jazz and Minimal methodologies. -- Alan Licht 

1. In Memory's Prism 23:39

2. Finite 39:50

3. Shadow Conductor 12:03

4. Agree 06:07

Abrams: guimbri, flute

Lisa Alvarado: gongs, harmonium, flute

Mikel Patrick Avery: gongs, tam-tam, flute

Ben Boye: electric autoharp, piano, flute

Hamid Drake: tabla, tar, flute

Ben Lamar Gay: cornet, flute

Nick Mazzarella: alto saxophone, flute

Jason Stein: bass clarinet, flute

recorded: Chicago, Electrical Audio, 2017

producers: Abrams & Michael Ehlers

engineer: Greg Norman

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Paul Bedal - Cerulean Stars (2021 Bace Records)

On Cerulean Stars, classical leanings and jazz formalism intersect with the post-freedom aesthetic of Chicago’s storied avant-garde. But don’t expect some sort of dialectical mashup; you won’t have to confront some split-personality collision of opposing forces. Instead, pianist Paul Bedal and company have seamlessly blended their diverse experiences, investing his fully structured compositions with liberating energy. He provides the blueprint, and his cohorts color outside the lines.

“It’s amazing to have musicians like Nick, Matt, and Charles with me,” Bedal says, referring to the members of this quartet – the same lineup that recorded his previous album, In Reverse. “They already have such a strong presence of their own, leading their own groups, that I’m excited to have them melding into this music. I think the album would come across as totally different with other sets of players, and I just like this kind of edge that Nick and Charles bring to it.”

That would be altoist Nick Mazzarella and percussionist Charles Rumback, who spend most of their time on the outskirts of the jazz mainstream. Even when such artists travel “back into town,” they usually can’t help but express lessons they’ve learned while away; and when they adapt those lessons to the music at hand, the sparks can fly.

Mazzarella’s work on Cerulean Stars may surprise listeners who know him primarily as a post-freedom improviser, ensconced on the busy and influential Chicago avant-garde landscape. He has appeared in ensembles led by new-music giants Ken Vandermark and Mike Reed; in duos with cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer Tim Daisy; and leading or co-leading several small ensembles. But the saxophonist (who has appeared on some 35 albums to date) has recently expressed a desire to move toward more structured formats – his original love – and Cerulean Stars, like its predecessor, serves as a showcase for this side of his artistry. In return, Mazzarella’s intense adventurism, buoyed by his neon tone, lights Bedal’s compositions from within.

For one example, turn to the opening track, “Iris,” an off-kilter melody that reflects the writing of Keith Jarrett, one of Bedal’s main influences. The melody rides atop a complicated, unorthodox harmonic scheme, and even months after the recording, Bedal remains impressed with Mazzarella’s approach to soloing on these chords – “especially some of the ways he tackled the harmonies, which I don’t think many other people would do around here,” Bedal says. “It’s kind of like sheets of sound, but it’s still handling all the harmonies.”

“Iris” also provides a fine introduction to Charles Rumback, Mazzarella’s fellow traveler on Chicago’s contemporary music scene, which boasts a fluidity that allows and even impels improvisers to move freely among genres. His resume includes several highly-regarded albums under his own name, as well as recordings by the groups Stirrup and Colorist, saxophonists Caroline Davis and Dustin Laurenzi, and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm’s Lightbox Orchestra. Rumback’s style emphasizes texture and nuance. Rather than barge and bash with untrammeled force, he fills his playing with nuanced colors and novel beats, which seep into the nooks and crannies of his fellows’ improvisations. On “Iris,” his steady beat creates an interior counterpoint to the rhythm of the melody: an idea from the edge? Whatever its origin, it adds complexity to the tune, and particularly to Bedal’s solo, which drops pieces of the theme like bread crumbs for the listener to follow.

Balancing all this is Matt Ulery, whose reputation as a composer – of jazz tunes, art songs, jazz-folk hybrids, big-band charts, orchestral works, and cinematic themes in search of a movie (among others) – almost overshadows his versatility as a bassist. His adaptability has allowed him to collaborate with the GRAMMY-winning classical ensemble Eighth Blackbird on the one hand, and hip-hop/jazz instigator Makaya McCraven on the other; he has also led 10 wide-ranging albums of his own. Bedal considers Ulery an inspiration for his own writing: “Just listening to Matt’s music, and recently playing in a lot of his groups, made me try to write things that I know the players would appreciate,” Bedal notes.

The pianist’s relationship with Ulery and Rumback stretches back nearly a decade, giving these disparate artists the chance to establish a comfort level – an ease, but without complacency – that becomes one of the disc’s real joys over repeated hearings. Since 2016, this rapport has encompassed Mazzarella as well, and it plays a vital role in Bedal’s compositions: deceptively challenging songs that sound less knotty than they ought to, thanks to Bedal’s ingenuity and to the tight mesh of the band.

Bedal gravitates toward pure melody, as befits a pianist who cites not only Jarrett but also Brad Mehldau, Herbie Hancock, and especially Bill Evans among his jazz heroes. But the clear-cut forms of Thelonious Monk’s compositions are another touchstone, along with light touches of Latin rhythms, which he picked up while studying at University of Miami (Florida), and which reinforced his early exposure to the infectious drive of pianist Michel Camilo, a favorite of Bedal’s musician father. Hints of the Caribbean show up on “Citrine,” but Bedal and Rumback employ this element with extreme subtlety. It isn’t garishly slapped onto the tune, but rather infused into the performance’s DNA, where it becomes one of many strands.

On “Panorama” and “Compass,” two of his more recent compositions, Bedal chose to set certain parameters rather than let the song come to him. “Panorama” builds upon varying permutations of the opening strains, which culminate in the ascending/descending motif first heard fully at 00:30; the ebb and flow of these permutations creates a swirling momentum during the solos that follow. On “Compass,” Bedal devised a formula to determine the intervals guiding the movement of the bass line, and then constructed the chord progression upon that. The piece has a majestic sweep epitomized by Mazzarella’s soaring solo – it mixes lyrical stretches with fluttering flights – and a piano solo of particular depth.

Bedal shines again on “Summer Fade,” the melody of which finds commonground with both Keith Jarrett and another longtime favorite of Bedal, the Armenian-born pianist Vardan Ovsepian. Ovsepian’s compositions tend to be more self-consciously pianistic, and that influence figures in Bedal’s solo, which emphasizes the interaction between left- and right-hand movement; after that, Mazzarella channels some inner Coltrane (and a bit of Eddie Harris’ highly evolved funk, too). The album concludes with the aptly titled “Free,” a slow-moving lullaby underscored by Rumback’s chittering brushwork, which leads to a section of unstructured improvisation.

That leaves only the brooding mystery of the title track, which at first recalls the main theme from the “Harry Potter” films. Its clockwork melody would seem to offer the tightest restrictions for improvising of any of these tracks. But the tune opens up into a full-blooded swinger, as Ulery and Rumback propel the melody’s stutter-step rhythm into an asymmetrical but irresistible force. “It started out as more of a piano piece,” Bedal says, “and then I kind of fleshed it out for the group.” That makes “Cerulean Stars” the outlier, since Bedal has so clearly conceived most of this repertoire for the quartet as a whole. But it speaks to that very wholeness – the valence that binds this band together – that this one fits right in. NEIL TESSER

1. Iris 06:27

2. Cerulean Stars 07:33

3. Citrine 05:59

4. Panorama 07:32

5. Compass 06:33

6. Summer Fade 06:33

7. Free 04:21

Paul Bedal - piano/compositions

Nick Mazzarella - alto saxophone

Matt Ulery - double bass

Charles Rumback - drums

Recorded at Pro Musica by Ken Christianson on January 20th, 2020

Artwork and design by Marine Tempels Black

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Dustin Laurenzi - Snaketime: The Music of Moondog (March 2021)

Chicago saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi has developed a distinctly personal approach to improvisation and composition that has garnered the attention of the city's creative music community. Recognized for his "offbeat approach to articulating harmonies and constructing melodies" (NextBop), Dustin's music is inspired and informed by jazz, folk, improvised music, and contemporary classical music.

1. Nero's Expedition 07:44

2. Lament I (Bird's Lament) 06:42

3. Remember 03:34

4. Fiesta Piano Solo 05:21

5. Down Is Up 07:03

6. All Is Loneliness 07:17

7. Lullaby 07:32

Chad McCullough -- Trumpet

Nick Mazzarella -- Alto Saxophone

Dustin Laurenzi -- Tenor Saxophone

Jason Stein -- Bass Clarinet

Dave Miller -- Guitar

Matt Ulery -- Bass

Quin Kirchner -- Drums/Percussion

Ryan Packard -- Drums/Percussion

All Compositions by Louis Hardin (A.K.A Moondog)

Arrangements by Dustin Laurenzi

Recorded by Nick Broste January 12, 2018 Live at the Hungry Brain (Chicago, IL)

Mixed by Nick Broste at Shape Shoppe (Chicago, IL)

Mastered by Mikey Young

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Nick Mazzarella / Quin Kirchner - See or Seem: Live at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival (March 5, 2021 Out Of Your Head Records)

OOYH Untamed is the digital-only DIY side of Out Of Your Head Records. The focus of Untamed is to release high quality performances with a quicker turnaround than a traditional studio album. They may be a live performance, a home studio recording, or an unearthed gem that never had the proper release outlet. That being said the performances are always first rate, and this is music that we strongly believe should be out in the world.

In the time of COVID-19 all proceeds from Untamed album sales are given directly to the artists. We want to say a huge thank you to TJ Huff (huffart.com) for generously donating original art, time, and talents to the design of these albums.

For every sale of this album OOYH Records will donate $1 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (stjude.org), an organization chosen by Nick Mazzarella.

1. Astral Projection

2. See or Seem

3. The Peregrine

4. Vis-à-vis

5. Axiom

6. Simmons' Dream

Nick Mazzarella - alto saxophone

Quin Kirchner - drums

All compositions by Nick Mazzarella (BMI).

Recorded by Nick Mazzarella in Madison Park, Chicago on September 27, 2020.

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Matt Piet & His Disorganization - Rummage Out (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2018)

There are some new protagonists in the Chicago jazz scene, due to the revelation of a younger generation of musicians and the defection of some of the big names to other American regions, like Jeff Parker and Rob Mazurek.

One of these Chicago exponents, gradually gaining importance, is pianist and composer Matt Piet, a former student at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. Leader of two fundamental bands in the city, Matt Piet Trio and Four Letter Words, and one of the vertices of the Rempis / Piet / Daisy triangle, he has broken into the Chicago improvised music community as a “melodic player” whose “tonefulness is thrillingly shaken by a rhythmic volatility and a fractal sense of phrasing”, according to the jazz journalist Peter Margasak, who compared his sound to Cecil Taylor in the late ‘50s and the early ‘60s. Piet’s is a welcome approach, considering that one of the members of the new band Matt Piet & His Disorganization is the saxophonist Nick Mazzarella, often described as a direct heir of the illustrious altoists Eric Dolphy, OrnetteColeman, Henry Threadgill and Oliver Lake, and like them driven to “embody the history of jazz while pushing it forward into new realms” (Troy Dostert).

The same characteristic defines cornet player Josh Berman, a player known to combine aspects of pre-bebop jazz with avant-garde experimentation, sometimes producing a strikingly dissonant New Orleans style. In this bass-less quartet, the drummer/percussionist is Tim Daisy, one of the most versatile rhythmicists in activity today, equally at ease with the fire music of Ken Vandermark and the electro-acoustic abstract explorations of Kyle Bruckmann. Chicago jazz is very much alive, and Rummage Out is fantastic proof.

1. Lost & Found 15:21

2. The Last Place You Look 22:21

Matt Piet piano

Josh Berman cornet

Nick Mazzarella alto saxophone

Tim Daisy drums and percussion

All music by Matt Piet & His Disorganization

Improvised live in performance at Constellation, Chicago IL on May 26, 2017 | Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Dave Zuchowski

Produced by Matt Piet | Executive Production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos | Photo by Matthew Schwerin

Nick Mazzarella & Tomeka Reid - Signaling (NESSA RECORDS 2017)

NESSA RECORDS

Cellist / composer Tomeka Reid and saxophonist / composer Nick Mazzarella have become valuable contributors to the Chicago music scene(s) for over a decade. This collection of duets demonstrates equally their instrumental skills and innate musicality. The saxophone / cello combination goes back to, at least, the '50s with the Chico Hamilton Quintet and recordings by Eric Dolphy and Ron Carter in the '60s. Most relevant here though is the pairing of Julius Hemphill and Abdul Wadud in the '70s and beyond.

Recorded April 17, 2015 Fox Hall Studio, Chicago

1. Blues For Julius And Abdul 6:37

2. Signaling 3:51

3. Like So Many Drops Of Water 3:58

4. Interstices 2:07

5. The Ancestors Speak 4:18

6. Topographies 7:27

7. Rediscovery Of An Age 4:31

8. Let It Be Known 5:14

9. Invoking A Spirit 2:12

Nick Mazzarella alto saxophone

Tomeka Reid cello

Meridian Trio - Triangulum (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2017)

Artists like Nick Mazzarella, Matt Ulery and Jeremy Cunningham, the members of Meridian Trio, are keeping the Chicago jazz scene alive and as strong as ever. All of them are highly demanded sidemen and also the leaders of their own projects, including the popular Nick Mazzarella Quintet, Matt Ulery’s folkish, chamber jazz group Loom, and the ambient Jeremy Cunningham Quartet. But this triangular combo organized in 2014 by Mazzarella, the group’s composer, is a vehicle for the three musicians to stretch their respective skills and develop new ideas. All three have the capacity to move in many musical directions, and they do. “Triangulum” keeps links with the jazz tradition and goes to unknown territories, destroying all the remaining distinctions that some more distracted listeners (and players) still make between “mainstream” and “avant-garde”. The music is very affirmative, but it’s also flexible. It can get complex but always swings, and even if there’s a triangular hierarchy, with Mazzarella’s alto saxophone on the top and Ulery’s double bass and Cunningham’s drum set occupying the bottom, they all have strong personalities and the music reflects it. The references of open form jazz adopted by the band couldn’t be more uplifting – Ornette Coleman’s Golden Circle Trio and Henry Threadgill’s Air. But take notice – though these models may serve as inspiration for Meridian Trio, listening to this record we quickly have the impression that new ground is being covered. Chicago has more to offer, and here it is.

1. Rhododendron 5:29

2. Triangulum 6:43

3. Ringdown 8:07

4. Reminiscing 2:55

5. Witch Hazel 8:50

6. Solstice 63 7:22

7. Strange 6:48

8. Inflection Point 5:11

Nick Mazzarella  alto saxophone

Matt Ulery  double bass

Jeremy Cunningham  drums

All compositions by Nick Mazzarella (BMI)

Recorded live at the Whistler in Chicago by Dave Zuchowski on January 12 and 26, 2016 | Mixed and mastered by Dave Zuchowski and Nick Mazzarella

Produced by Nick Mazzarella | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos