Epicenter

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 2015-04-16,
Wydawnicto Audiofilskie
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: kartonowe etui
opis:
multikultiproject.blogspot.com 2015-04-14, ocena: * * * * 1/2:
Aż dziw, że to dopiero czwarta autorska płyta tego muzyka (po 'Lay-Up' z 2000, 'Bigmouth' z 2002 i 'Deluxe' z 2010 roku). Z drugiej strony aktywność Lightcapa jako sidemana budzi niekłamany podziw, współpraca z takimi tuzami jazzu jak Anthony Braxton, Marc Ribot, Tomasz Stanko, Anthony Coleman, Regina Carter, Joe Morris, Rob Brown czy Matt Wilson, ale też z klasycznym skrzypkiem Joshua Bellem czy avant-popowym The Swell Season Markety Irglovej i Glena Hansarda musi zajmować mnóstwo czasu, którego brakuje na własne projekty.

Siedem własnych kompozycji lidera, wypełniających krążek 'Epicenter', mozna określić jako modern jazz z chrakterem. Są one raczej skupione na wyeksponowaniu możliwości komunikacyjnych członków formacji niż na wyrąbywaniu nowej artystycznej drogi.
Dwa saksofony, Chris Cheek (ma za sobą współpracę z m.in. Paulem Motianem czy Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra) i Tony Malaby (saksofonista z artystycznym adhd, od Marty'ego Ehrlicha po Michela Portala, od Satoko Fujii po Kris Davis, od Wadada Leo Smitha i Williama Parkera po Paul Motian Band), do tego fantastyczne klasyczne trio w składzie Craig Taborn na wurlizerze i fortepianie, Gerald Cleaver za perkusją i lider, Chris Lightcap na kontrabasie (plus akustyczna gitara i organy w utworze 2).

Współbrzmienie, to głównie zajmuje muzyków, o tym jest ta płyta, a trzeba wiedzieć, że są tutaj mistrzami sami dla siebie. Ten skład gra ze sobą od wielu już lat, w wywiadach Chris Lightcap prowokacyjnie mawia, że gdy zbierał ponad 10 lat temu swój zespół, nie sądził, że przerodzi się to w trwały muzyczny byt, chciał po prostu "zebrać wszystkich do kupy, razem się zabawić i zobaczyć co z tego wyniknie".
A wynikło po raz kolejny coś nadzwyczajnego, bogate brzmienie zespołu, porywająca energia, doskonale zestrojona sekcja rytmiczna z organami Taborna wespół z dwoma, raz z namysłem konwersującymi, raz przekrzykującymi się, raz grającymi jak orkiestra saksofonami, wszystko to sprawia, że Bigmouth, jest dzisiaj jedną z najciekawszych formacji kreatywnego jazzu.

Na koniec tylko dodam, że płyta zawiera jeszcze jeden utwór, zamykający tą przemyślaną opowieść, jest to utwór, który dla wielu mógłby być hymnem Nowego Jorku, autorstwa nieocenionego Lou Reeda 'All Tomorrow’s Parties' z epokowej płyty 'Velvet Underground & Nico', zagrany tutaj z brutalną wręcz energią.
Wspaniałe zakończenie wspaniałej płyty!
autor: Andrzej Fikus


“Righteous… The songs are suffused with locomotion and informed by choice aspects of West African music…it just works.” – Nate Chinen, The New York Times

“Lightcap is a smart composer of driving music, his tunes breathe, with plenty of room for horn interplay…It’s a brawny unit, but also at ease — a muscle car with an unconcerned foot on the gas”
– Patrick Jarenwattananon, NPR

“Brimmingly alive… from start to finish this music sings.” – Lloyd Sachs, DownBeat

somethingelsereviews.com - JANUARY 16, 2015, ocena: sneak peek:
Chris Lightcap is a bassist who has a very accurate sense of the pulse, whether that’s manifested in the puckish post-bop of Matt Wilson or the heavily distorted textures of Joe Morris’ and Jamie Saft’s Plymouth. But when Lightcap assembled his own supergroup and put out Deluxe back in ’11, the jazz press discovered his legitimacy as a bandleader and he’s been rightly put in higher regard these days.

Oh, and what a band this Bigmouth is: Craig Taborn (keyboards), Gerald Cleaver (drums) and the dual tenor treat of Tony Malaby and Chris Cheek are all legit as leaders themselves, and their usual modern-to-avant jazz playgrounds are right in Chris Lightcap’s area of expertise, too.

The long-awaited follow up to Deluxe is set to release on March 4, 2015 from Clean Feed Records. Epicenter brings back the Bigmouth crew intact, with both Lightcap and Taborn dabbling with the organ this time. But not on the title track, it’s all acoustic and based on the stream above, shows no diminishing in this group’s zest for adventure

“Epicenter” begins with the melody, harmony, rhythm, and tempo coming together as one, i.e., Ornette Coleman’s ‘harmolodic’ music theory put in practice, and Chris Lightcap follows that hopping head with a rangy solo before Taborn inches his way in with right-handed ruminations that get more and more in the pocket. Following a brief remark by Malaby and Cheek, each of the saxophone masters take their own, urgent solos, with ample comp support from Lightcap, Taborn and Cleaver. A return to the saxophone remark — not the Ornette intro — wraps up this out-bop safari.
BY S. VICTOR AARON


All About Jazz - March 12, 2015, ocena: * * * * 1/2:
Chris Lightcap is a bassist's bassist. As a sideman to leaders such as Regina Carter, Matt Wilson, Joe Morris, Marc Ribot, and Craig Taborn, his rock-solid timekeeping can be quite inconspicuous. He is a sort of steadfast superglue that leaders and composers hold in high regard.

As a leader and composer, there is another Chris Lightcap. Epicenter, is his third Bigmouth release, following the quintet Deluxe (Clean Feed, 2010) and a quartet Bigmouth (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2002). He continues to display his ability to sculpt music utilizing a two-tenor saxophone lineup. Previously recording with Tony Malaby and Bill McHenry, then Malaby and Andrew D'Angelo, and now Malaby and Chris Cheek.

The first seven tracks here, "Lost And Found: New York" were commissioned by the Chamber Music America New Jazz Works in 2011. Lightcap's writing draws from the old jazz avant-garde that didn't eschew tempo and infectious pulse. The opening track "Nine South," with Craig Taborn reiterating Wurlitzer piano notes, weaves an intricate counterpane of sound. That quilt, perhaps comforter, is a synthesis of the absorbing groove laid down by the bassist and drummer Gerald Cleaver and the two tenor attack. The brusque sound of Malaby is juxtaposed by Cheek's amicable approach. The title track, a take-off on the early music Ornette Coleman, pops with energy and vigor. The music spills both sweet and savory, with the rhythm section set to parboil.

With the keyboards of Taborn, the options available to Lightcap appear endless. He can play circular new music, hammer out a dense cloud of sound, and switch between acoustic and electric piano and organ. "Down East" is a pounding composition that is mulch for his band to attack and "Stillwell" and "Stone By Stone" wind gentler harmonies around each other. Lou Reed's "All Tomorrow's Parties" recalls the majesty of The Velvet Underground. Reminding us how guttersnipes can also be royalty.
By MARK CORROTO


freejazz-stef.blogspot.com - APRIL 12, 2015, ocena: * * * 1/2:
Compact discs aren’t usually considered a delicate medium, but if it’s possible to wear a CD out, I made a valiant effort with Deluxe. The 2010 offering from bassist Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth was a rare and heady mix of complex rhythms and near-perfect horn harmonies, an album that maintained an avant-garde pedigree but also unabashedly embraced hooks—those infectious bits of musical pleasure that normally send hardcore free jazzers screaming for the hills.

It’s exciting and relieving then that “Nine South,” the first track on Epicenter, opens with a monstrous earworm, an ostinato Wurlitzer hook that leaves a searing imprint on the brain. As Craig Taborn races around the keys, Lightcap and the dual-tenor frontline—Chris Cheek and Tony Malaby—enter with the same big, emotional melodic lines we grew to love on Deluxe. It’s as arresting as anything from that earlier album, and sets Epicenter up as more of the same. In general, this is great news.

Lightcap is a master of counterpoint, and his compositions send beautiful, interwoven harmonies over knotted, West African rhythms. The group always sounds expansive, if a bit melancholic at times. Seven of the eight tracks on Epicenter comprise a suite entitled “Lost and Found: New York.” Lightcap wrote, developed, and recorded the tracks with the help of the Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works grant, awarded in 2011 on the heels of Deluxe’s success. Each piece is inspired by some facet of New York City, though the tunes are unmistakably Lightcap’s and would fit comfortably with any of the band’s previous work. The thematic comparisons are easy enough: Bigmouth’s mix of disparate influences as a stand in for the melting pot culture of NYC, Lightcap’s deft usage of variously paced, parallel lines of motion calling to mind the many speeds of a city that is nevertheless always moving forward.

Many of the songs reflect pop music through more than just catchy melodies, and this is where Epicenter may leave some adventurous listeners wanting. Tracks like the gently floating “Arthur Avenue” or the pounding, under-three-minute “Down East” leave little room for any kind of improvisation, instead highlighting Lightcap’s ear for sweet harmony (the former) or intricate rhythm (the latter). “White Horse” is an another oddity, a short, thematic piece with multiple overdubs, including acoustic guitar and organ contributions from Lightcap. It’s a lovely bit of music, but is entirely a creature of the studio, bereft of the living, breathing feeling of a tight jazz ensemble. In the end, however, Epicenter isn’t really about the excitement of the unknown or chasing an improvisational high—it’s about five talented musicians rallying behind Lightcap’s assured compositional voice.

Epicenter is brilliantly summed-up with a cover of Velvet Underground’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties,” and it’s hard to imagine a more fitting intersection of New York City, popular music, and the avant-garde. It builds to a satisfying crescendo that allows the band to finally cut loose, while losing none of the jangly, gangly swagger of the original. Five years is a long time to wait for a follow-up. Epicenter further sands down some of the band’s coarser, more venturesome edges, but it’s a welcome return that I’ll know I’ll be spinning often in the months to come.
By Dan Sorrells

muzycy:
Chris Lightcap: double bass, acoustic guitars (1), organ (1)
Craig Taborn: Wurlitzer electric piano (1-3, 6, 7), piano (4-5, 8), organ (1)
Tony Malaby: tenor saxophone
Chris Cheek: tenor saxophone
Gerald Cleaver: drums, percussion

utwory:
1. Nine South
2. White Horse
3. Epicenter
4. Arthur Avenue
5. Down East
6. Stillwell
7. Stone by Stone
8. All Tomorrow's Parties

wydano: 2015-03
nagrano: Recorded December 16 and 17, 2013 by Andrew Taub at Brooklyn Recording, Brooklyn, NY

more info: www.cleanfeed-records.com
more info2: chrislightcap.com