Max Johnson - In the West (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2017)

Max Johnson may be the only musician to have worked with legendary improvisers Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Muhal Richard Abrams & William Parker, bluegrass royalty Sam Bush & David Grisman, in addition to rock pioneers Adrian Belew, Vernon Reid & the Butthole Surfers.  That eclecticism is at work on his new album, “In the West”, featuring piano trio, augmented by pedal steel guitar.  The album features Kris Davis on Piano, Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar, and Mike Pride on drums, in addition to Johnson’s bass playing and composing.  Kris Davis is one of the most breathtakingly original voices on the piano in the modern era, and her multiple projects as a leader, in addition to working with luminaries Eric Revis, Tony Malaby & Bill Frisell, display her masterful control of sound.

Susan Alcorn is one of the premiere innovators on pedal steel guitar, taking it’s roots in country and western, imbuing it with the lush harmonic beauty of Messiaen & Varese, and adding a frenetic wild free jazz energy, leading her to lend her amazing musical gifts to people like Mary Halvorson, Michael Formanek & Ellery Eskelin.  Mike Pride has led an broad musical life, doing everything from improvising with masters Joe Morris, Nate Wooley, and Peter Evans, to playing hardcore punk with the legendary band Millions of Dead Cops, but it is his unique vision and mastery of the drums that have made him one of the most powerful and moving drummers you’ll ever hear.  The combination of these four individuals is what makes “In the West” a compelling testament.  Drawing on a wide world of sounds, this quartet shifts through audio landscapes, twisting through the open and remarkable compositions of Johnson, finding themselves finally at a patient and powerful medley from Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack to “Once Upon a Time in the West”.  The journey the listener embarks on is lush and beautiful, wild and thorny, strange and uncharted, but always a treat to the ear, and moving to the soul.

1. Ten Hands

2. Greenwood

3. Great Big Fat Person

4. Once Upon a Time in the West

Susan Alcorn  pedal steel guitar

Kris Davis  piano

Max Johnson  double bass

Mike Pride  drums

All tracks composed by Max Johnson, Max Johnson Music ASCAP, except “Once Upon a Time in the West”, composed by Ennio Morricone, arranged by Max Johnson

Recorded April 27, 2014 at Acoustic Recording by Michael Brorby | Mixed by Eivind Opsvik at Greenwood Underground | Mastered by Jim Clouse at Park West Studios

Produced by Max Johnson | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Artwork by Victoria Salvador | Graphic design by Travassos

Eva Novoa - Butterflies And Zebras by Ditmas Quartet (2016)

"Listening again to this album as I sit and write this a mere neighborhood away from the one with which this quartet shares a name, I think again of the staggering number of inventive musicians based in or closely associated with Brooklyn. For most musicians here this is beyond a cliche in 2015. Yet, as I spend roughly half the year playing music outside of Brooklyn it occurs to me that while devotees of creative music / improvisation / etc might have a surface-level notion about this, the true extent of this only reveals itself after one spends significant time spent here, and even then still only to a fractional extent. I imagine trying to play once a year with every musician around here who is either a friend, acquaintance, or someone I admire, and I'm not sure how I'd do it.

Michaël, Max, and Jeff are three of those friends with whom I am fortunate to play and they're pretty appropriately matched here, as I know all of them as irrepressibly and indefatigably creative; this recording definitely confirms that. Eva and I met years ago when we both were beginning to make our own inroads here. We've both since found ourselves enveloped by this community. Her playing and musical direction on this record establish an atmosphere of fecundity.

Not all the music made in these neighborhoods sounds like this. It's a particularly apropos fuse, though. Thanks for listening".

Matt Mitchell, Brooklyn, 27 November 2015

[From the inside liner notes]

01. Spicy Water (Jeff Davis) 5:36

02. The Drone (Eva Novoa) 7:56

03. No Direction (Max Johnson) 6:43

04. Justin (Jeff Davis) 4:47

05. Pre-Nerve Scale (Michaël Attias) 5:44

06. Jack Nicholson (Eva Novoa) 3:07

07. Coffee Stain (Eva Novoa) 7:51

08. Chinese Shingles (Eva Novoa) 4:46

09. La Part Maudite (Michaël Attias) 6:49

10. For Jeff (Eva Novoa) 7:58

Total time: 61:00 min. approx.

Eva Novoa (piano, Fender Rhodes on #3 & 8)

Michaël Attias (alto sax)

Max Johnson (bass)

Jeff Davis (drums)

Recorded at Sear Sound Studio, New York City, June 2015

Sound engineer: Amandine Pras

Mixed & mastered by Jeremy Loucas

Illustration & design by Valerie Trucchia

Produced by Eva Novoa

Executive producer: Jordi Pujol

BUY THIS ALBUM!!!

Domi