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Ches Smith And These Arches: Hammered

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Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
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2013-04-04
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: kartonowe etui
opis:

multikultiproject.blogspot.com
To może być jedna z najciekawszych płyt 2013 roku. Kwintet wybornych muzyków, wciągająca, złożona struktura poszczególnych kompozycji i doskonałe wręcz porozumienie między muzykami, które może być efektem wyłącznie długiego, artystycznego "wspólnictwa" piątki muzyków.
Łatwość rejestrowania i publikowania nagrań sprawiła, że mamy obecnie wielki nadmiar płyt, w wersji tradycyjnej czy też elektronicznej. Duża ich część jest bez wartości, sami muzycy zdają się wypierać je ze swojej pamięci.
Członkowie formacji Ches Smith and These Arches, która wydała właśnie drugi album pod tytułem "Hammered", nie dość, że nie powinni o niej zapominać, to gorąco ich namawiam, aby kontynuowali pracę, której dotychczasowe efekty są już zachwycające.

Krótko o bohaterach zdarzenia, "najmłodszym" nabytkiem formacji jest Tim Berne, który pojawił się w zespole niecałe dwa lata temu. Saksofonista altowy, uczeń Anthony'ego Braxtona i Juliusa Hemhpilla należy do najbardziej twórczych przedstawicieli nowojorskiej sceny downtown. Berne ze Smithem znają się od kilku lat, na ubiegłorocznej płycie Berne'a dla ECM Records "Snakeoil" Smith zasiadł za perkusją.
Andrea Parkins, tutaj na akordeonie i elektronice, najbardziej znana z długoletniej współpracy z trio Ellery Eskelina. Na scenie awangardowej elektroniki aktywna od początku lat 80. Ze Smithem grała wielokrotnie, choćby w Trio Convulsant (Trevor Dunn/Andrea Parkins/Ches Smith).
Saksofonista tenorowy Tony Malaby to kolejny muzyk z artystycznym ADHD, prowadzi kilka swoich zespołów, współpracował z gigantami sceny improwizowanej jak Mario Pavone, Marty Ehrlich, William Parker, Paul Motian czy Michell Portal. Malaby ze Smithem spotyka się w Cello Trio/Quartet.
Gitarzystka Mary Halvorson przebojem wdarła się do pierwszej ligi jazzowych improwizatorów, wprowadzona do niej niejako przez Anthony'ego Braxtona, w którego zespole debiutowała ponad dziesięć lat temu. Ze Smithem Halvorson współpracuje od kilku lat w zespole, którego jest liderką. Pomimo młodego wieku (32 lata) ma na swoim koncie ponad 50 płyt.
Ches Smith to członek m.in. Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, Tim Berne's Los Totopos ale też avant-rockowych Mr. Bungle, Xiu Xiu i Secret Chiefs 3. Grał z takimi artystami jak John Zorn, Ben Goldberg, Fred Frith, Annie Gosfield, Elliott Sharp, Wadada Leo Smith, John Tchicai.

Osiem autorskich kompozycji lidera już od początku przykuwa uwagę gatunkową nieoczywistością, no ale mamy do czynienia z nowojorskimi muzykami, dla których stylistyczne granice są właśnie po to aby je przekraczać. Już pierwszy "Frisner" wbija w fotel masywnym brzmieniem poszczególnych instrumentów grających unisono (Malaby i Berne) lub osobno, Smith, Parkins i Halvorson z żelazną konsekwencją tworzą fundament, na którym z free jazzową furią prezentują się członkowie zespołu. Smith komponuje tak aby pozostawić ogromną przestrzeń dla swobodnej improwizacji każdemu z członków zespołu.
Często do głosu dochodzi rockowa proweniencja, zarówno u lidera jak i Mary Halvorson, abstrakcyjna wyobraźnia Parkins to porządkuje narracje, to ją destruuje. Przemyślana dramaturgia nagrania powoduje, że żaden ze światów obecnych w muzyce zespołu Ches Smith and These Arches nie dominuje, to zasługa lidera, ale najbardziej tego, że nie jest to projekt okazjonalny, jakich dzisiaj wiele.
autor: Krzysztof Szamot


jazzarium.pl - 14/04/2013, ocena: * * * / * * * * *:
Ten zespół jest jak trupa cyrkowa - powiedział o These Arches Chesa Smitha jeden z filarów grupy - saksofonista altowy Tim Berne. Ale jak może być inaczej, skoro w jednym latającym cyrku znaleźli się Mary Halvorson, Andrea Parkins, Tony Mallaby, Berne i Smith? Nakładem wydawnictwa Clean Feed ukazała się niedawno ich nowa płyta zatytułowana „Hammered”, czyli... nieprzytomnie pijany - skuty.

Kompozycje, które wychodzą spod ręki młodego perkusisty Chesa Smitha niechybnie zmierzają do muzycznej stłuczki. Jednak droga do niej, wielobarwność brzmień, i towarzysząca jej zabawa sprawiają, że chce się ją obserwować z równą determinacją, co wypadki zarejestrowane przez kamery pokładowe rosyjskich samochodów. U podstaw utworów leży melodia, którą jest następnie rozwijana, łamana, wywracana na drugą stronę przez wszystkich członków kolektywu na raz.

Nie znaczy to jednak, że These Arches to zespół przypadkowy. Każdy w tworzących go muzyków to odrębna osobowość na improwizowanej scenie. Nawet w ramach formacji o tak otwartym charakterze wszyscy mają tu jasno przypisane zadania. Wielką frajdę sprawia wsłuchiwanie się w to, co pod warstwą rogów Berne’a i Mallaby’ego wyczynia na akordeonie Andrea Parkins czy jedna z najważniejszych dziś gitarzystek na świecie Mary Halvorson.

To czego płycie nieco brakuje to wewnętrzna konstrukcja- relacji między poszczególnymi kompozycjami, dramaturgia. Album wieńczy utwór „This might be a fade out”, który rzeczywiście mógłby owym wyciszeniem wcale nie być. Zespół Smitha to w ogromnej mierze petarda koncertowa. Właśnie teraz zespół podróżuje w trasie przez Europę. Jeśli „Hammered” przyczynia się do tego, że więcej osób może doświadczyć tych muzyków przy pracy - warto było wydać tę płytę. Czy warto ją kupić? Ci, którzy pamiętają koncert grupy na ubiegłorocznym Warsaw Summer Jazz Days znajdą na „Hammered” więcej energii, dynamiki, miejscami nawet rockowego zacięcia. Nieliczni, którzy na półce mają już poprzednią płytę grupy - wydany przez niewielką oficynę Skirl Records album „Finally Out Of My Hands” - doświadczą jeszcze większej otwartości i swobody w podejściu do poszczególnych motywów. Czy jednak płyta ta wnosi coś nowego w naszą wiedzę o zebranych tu muzykach? Mam wątpliwości.
autor: Kajetan Prochyra


Gapplegate Music
The world of improvised music does not guarantee a predictability. That is what can generate excitement, especially if you are “in on the ground floor,” at the gig or otherwise bearing witness to new sounds, in person or captured in a recording. Ches Smith and These Arches have that “ground floor” feel these days, especially on their new, second release Hammered (Clean Feed 270). The album features compositions by the leader and the band is of the all-star avant sort: Ches on drums of course, then Tim Berne on alto, Tony Malaby on tenor, Mary Halvorson on guitar and Andrea Parkins on accordion and electronics. Andrea may be a lesser-known member, but her accordion goes a long way to distinguishing this group’s sound. So what is that sound? It’s avant and very lucid, solid-rock inflected but stratospherically bound. Given the world-class caliber of these improvisers, it is all-over inspired. The compositions and Ches’ forward moving and forward looking drumming give direction and the band follows suit. Sometimes (maybe because of the sound of the accordion but also the compositional spin) it has an almost village folkiness to it, though it gets very outside. If Stravinsky, Hendrix and Dolphy lived in that village, their children might sound like this!! Everybody has encountered recordings that featured a interesting, even great lineup of players that brought on expectations of great music, then found some disappointment when listening. This is NOT one of those recordings. There are so many stylistic strains that go into the final makeup of the music, the piecing-together is so well conceived and skillfully executed, yet so unexpected, you need to ear-hear this one a couple of times before you get smitten. And hey, I am smitten with this one. Ches shows us that he is a bandleader and composer of much talent. I hope this exceptionally supercharged combination of players can keep going as a unit. It is some exceptional sound they conjure before our ears!
review by Grego Edwards

All About Jazz Italy
Freschissimo di stampa, ecco il secondo album del gruppo diretto da Ches Smith, dopo Finally Out of My Hands, del 2010. Per l’occasione, si unisce al quartetto-base Tim Berne, e come si capira facilmente non si tratta di particolare di poco conto. E non e forse neppure il caso di sottolineare che con Berne il giovane batterista ha gia inciso il notevolissimo Snakeoil, cosi come, con Mary Halvorson, un altro dei dischi di spicco della passata stagione, Bending Bridges. Dei gruppi di entrambi Smith fa del resto parte stabilmente. Ecco cosi che si intuisce come sia certamente il caso di parlare di “cenacolo”. Questo nuovo album non fa che confermarlo. L’iniziale “Frisner,” in verita, risulta meno strutturato dei lavori appena citati (e del resto, piu in generale, di quella linea): certe angolosita tipiche di Berne—e in misura minore della Halvorson—appaiono in qualche modo meno sublimate (dall’architettura globale, appunto), nel segno di un incedere che potremmo definire segnato da giovanile baldanza. Una musica sovraffollata, in cui prendono poi il sopravvento, a turno, i sax di Berne e Tony Malaby.

In partenza piu lineare, per quanto sempre assai denso, il successivo “Wilson Philip” tende a incresparsi a sua volta, strada facendo, mentre subito piu strutturato si annuncia “Dead Battery,” e piu ancora “Hammered,” perla dell’incisione, incalzante in avvio e piu decongestionato nel segmento centrale, pero incamminato verso una tensione montante, persino aggricciata e luciferina, sul finire.

Al breve “Limitations,” di fatto informale, pero in possesso di una sua singolare grazia, fa seguito “Learned from Jamie Stewart,” fitto, specie nel rinnovato intrecciarsi delle due ance. Piu geometrico—e in cio, se vogliamo, berniano—”Animal Collection,” che non a caso recupera strada facendo spigolosita care all’altoista di Syracuse, mentre il conclusivo “This Might Be a Fade Out” sfoggia una marcata articolazione tra frammenti piu fulminanti, surriscaldati, e lievi (per mole, non per leggerezza) ripiegamenti, benché l’energia ne rimanga l’elemento piu palpabile, del brano specifico quanto del disco in generale. Cui magari poteva giovare una migliore messa a fuoco di alcuni passaggi, ma che non per questo puo non esser giudicato come il prodotto di un talento limpidissimo.
review by Alberto Bazzurro

Tomajazz
En Hammered, segunda entrega del proyecto These Arches del baterista y percusionista Ches Smith, el grupo que grabó Finally out of my Hands se incrementa en una unidad con un componente de lujo: el saxofonista Tim Berne. De ese modo, These Arches son en esta grabación Berne, el saxofonista Tony Malaby, la guitarrista Mary Halvorson, y la acordeonista y experta en electrónica Andrea Parkins. Ches Smith vuelve a ser el autor de los ocho temas. Estos son unas composiciones estructuradas en torno a una o varias melodías sencillas (que en más de una ocasión se repiten con un cierto grado de obsesión), algunas de ellas sumamente cantables. Tras su exposición por parte del grupo abren espacios muy amplios para los solos de los cinco músicos. Allí todos ellos se mueven con suma libertad, bien sea en solitario, bien sea en companía. Tim Berne es una magnífica incorporación, una pareja perfecta para Tony Malaby: ambos protagonizan unos momentos incisivos especialmente brillantes. Mary Halvorson, tal y como ocurría en la anterior grabación del grupo, apenas aparece en algunos temas, aunque en el momento en que empuna la guitarra se hace notar y de qué manera. Andrea Parkins reparte el uso de sus instrumentos entre el acordeón (con el que proporciona un soporte sonoro a sus companeros) y la electrónica que le permite lanzarse por su lado más libre. Ches Smith está a su magnífico nivel habitual. Sumamente rítmico, es uno de los mejores bateristas de la actualidad, tal y como demuestra en este disco, o en Your Turn, la próxima grabación del Ceramic Dog Trio de Marc Ribot que se publicará en un par de meses.
review by Pachi Tapiz

Free Jazz
Two saxes: one alto and one tenor, and on the recording — one in each ear. Ches Smith just made my brain the keystone of his group, These Arches! This album, then, perhaps, is as neurologically enriching as it is musically enticing.

The move from quartet to quintet is solidifying for this band. Tim Berne on alto joins Tony Malaby on tenor, and the two carry us into various parallel and perpendicular worlds with dexterity and ease. Fresh and lean, these guys are panthers on the prowl. “Dead Battery,” in particular highlights their inventive contextualization.

Actually, These Arches as a group have several interesting contextualizing habits, many derived, of course, from the members’ high-level jazz improv expertise. Additionally, these five players prove to be confident in their well-chosen moments of rocking out. Last, but not least, These Arches seem especially facile with adventurous choices made in regard to the infusion of multi-cultural folk styles. For example (again on “Dead Battery”), Mary Halvorson (guitar and bass lines) quotes from The Everly Brothers’ “Let It Be Me,” (itself a re-worked French tune). Almost immediately, she injects a subtle Middle Eastern flavor into the lick. The band responds with layering that texturizes the hell out of the familiar riff, which is quite satisfying. The title track, “Hammered,” is also a good reflection of the band’s strength at melding various rock, folk/ethnic and jazz styles into something not only greater than the sum of parts, but something parting into a summary of something greater.

Andrea Parkins on accordion and electronics takes an interesting position in the band, providing a level of intense, yet restrained, subtlety. And Mr. Smith, on drums and percussion, takes care not to dominate, driving with an egalitarian ease and a lot of sound play.

Beware, though. This band also takes the stance of a big tease, brazenly daring you to come back for more. For example, round about 5:40 on “This Might Fade Out,” Ches Smith lays into a phat, funky rock groove that evaporates almost instantaneously within 20 seconds. Ooooh! Why’d you do that to me? How did I end up in this worm hole? Oh, well, it doesn’t matter because already I am somewhere else, feeling like a campy TV detective driving a 70’s-era Camaro, screeching to sudden stops, spinning into smoky half circles, soaring through the air off rising bridge plates….and, well, yeah!

So, you gotta get “Hammered.” If for no other reason than to wave the CD case in front of your best friend’s face and make that irresistible joke.
review by Monique Avakian

The New York City Jazz Record
One might on occasion be given to pause and consider the future of music in the hands of people who have grown up with the history of recorded music just a You Tube search away, in a world we might conceive of as (or even hope will be) post-genre. That generation might well already be looking at such players as drummer Ches Smith to mark the way. Smith has been largely a rock drummer who has booked time with such familiar-to-these-pages personalities as Trevor Dunn, Fred Frith, Ben Goldberg and Marc Ribot.

More central (perhaps) to Smith’s own field of vision are his oddly fascinating duo Good for Cows (with former Deerhoof bassist Devin Hoff), his equally offbeat solo project Congs for Brums and These Arches, a group he leads with the stellar lineup of saxophonists Tim Berne and Tony Malaby, guitarist Mary Halvorson and Andrea Parkins on accordion and electronics. What perhaps holds his contributions to all of these projects together is a fluidity with rhythm – contrasting, overlaid and sliced with the ease of a hip-hop DJ.

Such characterization might be unexpected for a record given the name Hammered, but Smith is as solid as he is nuanced behind the kit and this, the second outing for These Arches, is a rewarding, exciting listen. The band does hammer away at times and in fact several of the compositions – according to Smith – were originally written with a rock band in mind, but they are still roomy enough for healthy improvisation, name checking in its titles such departed influences as Chicago drummer Phillip Wilson and Haitian Vodou drummer Frisner Augustin, suggesting a couple more touch points informing Smith’s work.

With the addition of Berne to the band’s original lineup, the group’s sound is now thick with, well,sound. They’ve crossed that nebulous line between sounding like some people in a room and becoming a blur of group think. In very different ways, Berne and Parkins have traipsed that territory for decades and here in fine company they are continuing to hammer a way at blurry lines.
review by Kurt Gottschalk
Editor's info:
Though drummer Ches Smith has a penchant for christening his compositions with playfully oblique names, the name he chose for the title track of the second album by his band These Arches couldn’t be more straightforward. “Hammered” is relentless, pounding, fueled by a driving, recursive pulse that goads tense, urgent playing fromSmith’s quintet of master improvisers.

The piece is a vivid illustration of the precarious balance that Smith strikes between the worlds of avant-garde jazz and experimental rock. He’s in demand as the drummer for such forward-thinking jazz artists as Tim Berne, Darius Jones, Mary Halvorson and Trevor Dunn, and at the same time he’s provided the backbone for adventurous rock acts like Xiu Xiu and Secret Chiefs 3, not to mention uncategorizable hybrids between the two like Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog and Smith’s own Good For Cows.

The merging of sonic worlds on Hammered is no accident, several of the pieces began life as songs penned for rock bands that evolved into more open frameworks for These Arches’ expansive improvisation. “A lot of these tunes were meant for a rock band but are being played by something that’s not a rock band at all,” Smithsays. “They’re sort of rock reject tunes, and that gave a shape to the whole record.”

These Arches may not be a rock band, but its membership has no problem providing the power and ferocity of one. Since the release of the band’s debut, Finally Out of My Hands, its ranks have been swelled by the addition of alto saxophonist/composer Tim Berne. He joins tenor powerhouse Tony Malaby, guitarist Mary Halvorson, and accordionist/electronic musician Andrea Parkins.

“These Arches is basically about me writing for a set of my favorite improvisers,”Smith explains. “The tunes I ended up coming up with for Hammered were more hard-hitting and straightforward than the earlier ones, but they’re also more expanded and developed.” The pieces make inspired use of these musicians’ ability to navigate fluidly between composition and improvisation while evoking the force and direct communication of heavy rock tunes.

Berne’s addition to this remarkable line-up was initially an accident, the result of a scheduling conflict. With Malaby unable to make a tour with the band, Berne stepped in, when Malaby’s calendar suddenly reopened, Smith decided to try arranging some of his music for both saxophonists. “It turned out great,” he says. “When we all played together it was like, ‘This is what I’ve been hearing.’ Having another voice to work with, and especially Tim’s way of improvising, adds a whole different dimension to the band.”

That new dimension is immediately evident on the album’s opener, “Frisner.” When the tune breaks down in the middle, Berne and Malaby both push their horns to their screeching limits while Smith and Halvorson provide pointillistic interjections and Parkins shrouds them all in skittering electronic textures. The title refers to master Haitian Vodou drummer Frisner Augustin, a teacher of Smith’s who passed away unexpectedly in February 2012. His influence can be felt in the piece’s buoyant, intricate rhythms.

Another percussion hero is honored via “Wilson Phillip,” which pays homage to the late drummer Phillip Wilson via a tongue-in-cheek reference to a somewhat less revered ‘80s pop band. The undersung Wilson was a veteran of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band who played with the likes of Lester Bowie, Anthony Braxton, and Julius Hemphill. Smith’s inspiration for the piece came from a beat played by Wilson on one of Hemphill’s records.

The spiraling “Dead Battery” was initially intended for Ceramic Dog, while the chaotic, ever-shifting “Learned From Jamie Stewart” was penned for Xiu Xiu, whose lead singer is name-checked in the title (which is also an inside joke between Smith and Bay Area clarinetist/composer Ben Goldberg). These Arches’ next project will be a collaboration with Stewart on a set of Nina Simone compositions.

“Limitations” provides a minimalist intermission to the album, while “Animal Collection” takes the repetitive structure of “Hammered” in a decidedly different, far more relaxed and grooving direction. And “This Might Be a Fade-Out” actually contains several fades before the ultimate one, ending the album on a note of perpetual resurgence.

muzycy:
Andrea Parkins: accordion
Ches Smith: drums
Mary Halvorson: guitar
Tim Berne: alto saxophone
Tony Malaby: tenor saxophone

utwory:
1. Frisner
2. Wilson Philip
3. Dead Battery
4. Hammered
5. Limitations
6. Learned from Jamie Stewart
7. Animal Collection
8. This Might Be a Fade Out

wydano: 2013
more info: www.cleanfeed-records.com
more info2: www.chessmith.com
CF270

Opis

Wydawca
Clean Feed (POR)
Artysta
Ches Smith And These Arches [Andrea Parkins / Ches Smith / Mary Halvorson / Tim Berne / Tony Malaby]
Nazwa
Hammered
Instrument
drums
Zawiera
CD
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