RAVI COLTRANE - MAD 6
26-2
[5:08]7.3 Mb
Ginger Bread Boy
[4:11]6 Mb
Avignon
[7:12]10.4 Mb
The Mad 6
[1:20]1.9 Mb
Self Portrait in Three Colors
[5:22]7.6 Mb
Between Lines
[4:42]6.7 Mb
Round Midnight
[6:23]9.1 Mb
The Return of Olymbus
[3:00]4.3 Mb
Ask Me Now
[6:00]8.6 Mb
Fifth House
[7:28]10.7 Mb
Ravi Coltrane "Mad 6" Album Review
A no-decision
This is Ravi Coltrane's third disc as a leader; the good news is that his tenor playing continues to grow in authority, & that he's worked out his own intelligent take on the M-BASE style of smart, off-kilter rhythms (cf. Coleman, Osby &c). & yet I find the album hard to like. Part of the problem is the loud, gut-punching studio sound which makes the hyperkinetic rhythms (especially Steve Hass's busy drumming) lash out at you mercilessly. The other problem is that sometimes the decision to use familiar postbop standards for the majority of tracks seems perverse: I mean, do we really need "Round Midnight" to be mauled virtually to the point of unrecognizability? -- Anyway, Ravi Coltrane himself remains the most likeable presence on the album, & ensures that it remains listenable. Fans of this kind of in-yer-face contemporary jazz will find much to enjoy; others should approach with caution.
ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO - NICE GUYS
Ja
[8:42]12.5 Mb
Nice Guys
[1:44]2.5 Mb
Folkus
[11:03]15.8 Mb
597-59
[6:46]9.7 Mb
Cyp
[4:53]7 Mb
Dreaming of the Master
[11:39]16.8 Mb
Art Ensemble of Chicago "Nice Guys" Album Review
My personal favorite AEC
Nice Guys reveals the many dimensions of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, from their crystalline delicacy, through their wry humor, to their unmitigated heaviness ("Dreaming of the Master"). It also reveals their core philosophy of creation, which combines their own eruptive originality and their homage to what they called "Great Black Music."<p>I saw the AEC about 20 times from 1976 through 1983, and I was lucky enough to catch them at an AACM festival shortly after the release of Nice Guys. Never did I see them any better, from Don Moye's astonishing work on drums to their thundering entry into "Dreaming of the Master" near the end of their set.<p>Nice Guys does it all, albeit it a slightly tamer way than those who love the earlier "A Jackson in Your House" AEC. Take the plunge and enjoy your own dreams of these masters.
BEN ALLISON - PEACE PIPE
Third Rail
[4:44]6.8 Mb
Slap Happy
[8:05]11.6 Mb
Peace Pipe
[6:20]9.1 Mb
Dakan
[6:26]9.2 Mb
Goin Back
[4:46]6.8 Mb
Disposable Genius
[4:38]6.6 Mb
Music is Music
[2:54]4.2 Mb
Realization
[5:57]8.5 Mb
Mantra
[6:53]9.8 Mb
Ben Allison "Peace Pipe" Album Review
Incredibly Creative
Ben Allison's Peace Pipe is one of the more ambitious and unbelivably original jazz project's I've ever heard. Allison creates incredible textures and rhythmic patterns by using so many different unusual elements in the music: muted piano, prepared piano, picking bass strings with a subway card, cymbals on the drum heads and of course, the defining aspect of this recording, the traditional Malian kora, a harp made from a gourd. Mamadou Diabate is a stunning musician, but the kora makes a certain thought about this music on this album even more incredible. I had the pleasure of seeing Diabate live once and realized that the kora is actually a diatonic instrument. It can only play in one key at one time. As a result, the writing process of this music must have been extremely difficult in order to make jazz with the harmonic limitations of the kora. The result is music like you've never heard before. The improvisational ablities of the musicians is outstanding as usual. Get ready for a musical treat with Peace Pipe.
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