Henry Threadgill & Ensemble Double Up: Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 07.08.2019
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena * * * * 1/2:
Najbardziej wytrwali "nazywacze", którzy muszą znaleźć etykietę do wszystkiego, co im wpadnie w ręce, tropiąc kolejne odsłony dorobku wielkiego maga muzyki, jakim bez wątpienia jest Henry Threadgill, dawno temu już skapitulowali. Czy to jeszcze jest jazz, czy klasyczna muzyka komponowana... nie ma znaczenia. Threadgill, w którego głowie kłębią się często zaskakujące koncepcje nie zwalnia tempa. Jestem pewien, że Threadgill niejednym nas jeszcze zaskoczy.

Przed nami drugie nagranie nowego zespołu mistrza - Ensemble Double Up. Fani Threadgilla mają w pamięci świetny album "Old Locks and Irregular Verbs" (Pi Recordings 2017). Wywiedziony z "reżyserskiej" koncepcji Lawrence'a Butcha Morrisa album, zaskoczył fanów wprowadzeniem do zespołu Threadgilla fortepianu. Do pracy nad albumem zaprosił m.in. dwóch mistrzów fortepianu Jason Morana i Davida Virellesa. Wydarzenie było spektakularne nie tylko ze względu na samą muzykę, ale waśnie na podwojenie fortepianowej obsady. Jak dotąd Threadgill niejako pomijał ten instrument w swojej pracy twórczej, no może z wyjątkiem krótkiej współpracy z Myrą Melford.

Na nowej płycie "Double Up Plus" pianistów jest aż trzech. Ze starego składu pozostał Virelles, dodatkowo usłyszymy Davida Bryanta i Luisa Perdomo. Skład uzupełniają Curtis Robert Macdonald – saksofon altowy, Roman Filiu – saksofon altowy, flet altowy, Christopher Hoffman – wiolonczela, Jose Davila – tuba oraz Craig Weinrib – perkusja, instrumenty perkusyjne. Sam Threadgill występuje wyłącznie w roli kompozytora i dyrygenta.

Taka bogata brzmieniowo obsada daje Threadgillowi wiele możliwości, z których skrzętnie korzysta. Niejednokrotnie pokazał, że po mistrzowsku dokonuje wyborów personalnych. Tak jest i tym razem. Każdy z instrumentalistów ma bardzo określone zadania, jednak to na brzmieniu fortepianów ufundował pięć kolejnych kompozycji. Już na otwierającej płytę "Game is Up" każdy z trzech fortepianów prowadzi odrębną narrację w ramach jednej kompozycji, pozostali muzycy włączają się w te fragmentaryczne struktury, oplatając je smacznymi improwizacjami, by w końcowej części oprzeć całość o mocną linię basu puzonisty Jose'go Davili.

Każda kolejna kompozycja to nowe otwarcie, nowy pomysł narracyjny. Pozornie niezwiązane ze sobą elementy, funkcjonujące w ramach jednej całości z czasem dopasowują się do siebie, zachodzą na siebie wprowadzając swoisty ład. Tak klasyczna muzyka komponowana płynnie przechodzi w jazzowe struktury. Niezwykły album!
autor: MAd
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Editor's info:
Pi Recordingsis proud to announce the much-anticipated release of two new recordings from Henry Threadgill: Dirt… And More Dirt, featuring his new group 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg; and Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus, with his ensemble Double Up. The winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for his work In for a Penny, In for a Pound, Threadgill is widely considered to be among the most important artists in contemporary music. The New York Times called him a “composer and bandleader of intense, unyielding originality, nobody’s idea of a compromise.” An early member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), he continues to adhere to that organization’s tenet for finding one’s individual path through original music. WithDirt… and Double Up Plus, he builds on all of his prior work to create two magisterial works of great power and beauty. Together, they represent the crowning achievements in Threadgill’s still-flourishing half-century long career.

Inspired by the conceptual art installation “The New York Earth Room” by Walter de Maria at The Dia Art Foundation – 250 cubic yards of earth in a 3600 square foot space – and the clay sculptures of Stephen De Staebler, Dirt… And More Dirt finds Threadgill expanding his compositional and instrumental palette. The 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg features the musicians of his long-running band Zooid– Threadgill (alto saxophone and flutes), Ellman (guitar), Jose Davila (tuba), Christopher Hoffman (cello), and Elliot Humberto Kavee (drums and percussion) – in addition to Jacob Garchik and Ben Gerstein (trombone), Jonathan Finlayson and Stephanie Richards (trumpet), Roman Filiu (alto saxophone, alto flute), Curtis Robert Macdonald (alto saxophone), David Bryant (piano), David Virelles (piano, harmonium), Thomas Morgan (bass), and Craig Weinrib (drums, percussion). The larger instrumental forces deployed here allow for a wider range of tonal color, texture, and polyphonic density. There is at times a marching band feel, and a sense of joyous swing.

Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus features Ensemble Double Up, who first appeared on Old Locks and Irregular Verbs, which was voted the best jazz album of 2016 in both the NPR and Jazz Times Critics Polls. The New York Times declared that release “just as easy topicture in Pulitzer contention” and NPR called it “a masterpiece.” On board are holdovers Davila (tuba), Hoffman (cello), Filiu (alto saxophone, alto flute), Macdonald (alto saxophone), Weinrib (drums, percussion), but this time featuring the remarkable three-concert grand pianos of David Virelles, David Bryant and Luis Perdomo. The interaction between the three pianists lie at the heart of this piece, performing an intricate contrapuntal dance of varying attack, register, and density.

Much has been written about the unique, interval-based system of composition and improvisation that Threadgill has been advancing for the last decade and a half with Zooid. While that unmistakably remains a substantial element of the new works, Threadgill has loosened up on the rigors of that system to allow the musicians to play with greater intuition, resulting in music that feels more instinctive and flowing. Alive with the multi-layered counterpoint, and odd-angled swing that are Threadgill’s hallmarks,Dirtand Double Up Plusare rich with intricate detail and grand gestures. The varied instrumentation helps give a greater harmonic sense and greater timbral variety. Despite the compositional sophistication, for Virelles, “it always feels like the blues, funky and soulful.” All of the musicians give completely to this music, fully internalizing Threadgill’s unique syntax while dealing with all of its convolutions. In turn, everyone is given the space to express their own musical personalities. Completing the virtuous circle, Threadgill, playing alto saxophone at the end of Dirt,lets loose a spine-tingling solo, full of perfectly-aimed shots to the moon.

At the age of 74, Threadgill shows no sign of letting up. “Henry has a curiously insatiable thirst to keep expanding on what he’s done before,” observes Liberty Ellman. While David Virelles says “He is obsessive about never staying at the same place. Henry is constantly changing his music, often at the last minute. It’s like he doesn’t want anyone to get too comfortable so that their approach is always fresh.” Jose Davila, who has played with Threadgill since 1995 when he played on the last Very Very Circus tour, continues to be awed: “Nobody deals with form like Henry, but his genius is also his ability to lead you out onto the precipice where anything can happen. For him, that is always the most interesting place.”


popMATTERS - ocena 8/10:
When Henry Threadgill spikes a new release upon us, the chances are that it's going to end up on some year-end best-of lists. You may dismiss this as favoritism if you like, since some legendary acts do end up taking over these coveted spots just by releasing any something -- anything, really. Threadgill, on the other hand, always delivers. Ever since his return to recording for the Pi label in 2009, the iconic saxophonist/flautist/composer has been supplying the modern jazz world with some astonishingly consistent material, culminating in the formation of a new band -- Ensemble Double Up.

For 2018, Henry Threadgill not only takes Ensemble Double Up back into the studio to record, but he has also formed a new 15-piece band named 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg to record a different album altogether. The results are Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus and Dirt...and More Dirt respectively. Fans of the Pulitzer-winning composer now have 86 minutes of new music into which to dive. That isn't just good for jazz; it's good news for anyone who has doubted our culture's ability to produce new original works injected with a heart and a brain of its own.

The personnel for Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus holds over from the Butch Morris tribute Old Locks and Irregular Verbs with one exception -- pianist David Bryant has replaced Jason Moran. Threadgill sidelines himself to composing and conducting, letting Curtis Robert Macdonald and Roman Filiú handle the alto sax parts. Luis Perdomo and David Virelles somehow manage to bolster Bryant with two more pianos (!!!) as Christopher Hoffman saws the cello. The rhythm section consists of tubist Jose Davila and drummer Craig Weinrib.

At more than 22 minutes in length, opener "Game Is Up" occupies close to 50% of the record's space. What exactly, you may ask, is going on during those 22 minutes? For one thing, Threadgill devotees will need to bear in mind that this is not a Zooid release. You will not hear Threadgill's sax or flute melodically sparring with Liberty Ellman's guitar. In its place you will hear lots of piano -- there are three of them and a harmonium, after all -- and all of the 12-tone jumping that a Threadgill composition brings to them. Be they piano solos or radically composed figures, you will never get an ostinato out of the deal. Weinrib spends a great deal of time sweeping the floor with different percussion techniques as well as using the tap drums.

From the sound of it, Ensemble Double Up is less concerned with making the material swing as it is in making it sing in its own odd and somehow compelling way. Through the compositions "Clear and Distinct from the Other A", "Clear and Distinct From the Other B", and the more plainly titled "Clear and Distinct", rubato moments abound, using god-only-knows-what as an anchor for the music. To play this freely yet stay together can't be that simple.

For Dirt...and More Dirt, the 12-tone formula finds a way to groove. Everyone from Ensemble Double Up is involved in 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg with the exception of Luis Perdomo. They are joined by guitarist and producer Liberty Ellman, trombonists Jacob Garchik and Ben Gerstein, trumpeters Jonathan Finlayson and Stephanie Richards, bassist Thomas Morgan, drummer Elliott Humberto Kavee, and Henry Threadgill himself on alto sax, flute, and bass flute. In the case of the pianos and drums, Bryant and Kavee are panned to the left side of the mix while Virelles and Weinrib sit on the right.

Dirt is made up of two miniature suites, dully named "Dirt" and "And More Dirt". A couple of movements stretch beyond the eight-minute mark. Another two of them don't even make it to the one-minute mark. Since Threadgill is allowing himself to play on this disc, his sharp, staccato attack gives the music's syncopation an extra punch that Ensemble Double Up did not have and most likely did not require (they don't give the Pulitzer to just anybody). Having two percussionists somehow doesn't kill the groove with clutter. And since this is the shorter album of the two, the listener gets the impression that 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg are quicker to sharpen their points.

Ensemble Double Up had nearly 23 minutes to explore their space and possibilities inside of just one song. The leash is shorter on Dirt and it shows. Even the first movement, clocking in at eight minutes, shows a great deal of drive and purpose. The "And More Dirt" suite, which spans only 12 minutes, begins with a movement with even more nervous energy. Unlike Double Up Plus, the piano solos of Dirt are highly rhythmic though no less atonal in their approach.

If Henry Threadgill isn't going through a late-career renaissance, then I guess I don't know what a late-career renaissance looks like. At 74 years of age, he remains his own man. He stopped copying anyone else long, long ago, and few people dare try to copy him now. Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus and Dirt...and More Dirt, two exceptional recordings by anyone's standards, are just recent signposts for a long career that would never be mistaken for being compromised.
by JOHN GARRATT

freejazzblog.org - ocena * * * * 1/2:
Composer and saxophonist Henry Threadgill's previous album, Old Locks and Irregular Verbs, with the first incarnation of the Double Up ensemble, was dedicated to Lawrence "Butch" Morris' conduction method, and was given a thorough review by Lee Rice Epstein in 2016. Noting the reintroduction of the piano to Threadgill's compositions, as well as his non-performing role, Epstein wrote:
Threadgill’s Ensemble Double Up debut is a thrilling shakeup of his compositional language, which has admittedly been in a state of near-constant evolution for decades. If it was strange to be missing Stomu Takeishi’s bass on last year’s Zooid double-album, it’s even stranger to have a new album without Threadgill’s flute or Liberty Ellman’s guitar ... Moran and Virelles, both with deep ties to Threadgill, bear a strangely heavy burden of reintroducing piano to Threadgill’s discography. And their solos throughout show a deep affinity for Threadgill’s tonal and rhythmic playgrounds.
A few weeks ago, the saxophonist and composer released two new recordings, one with the Double Up ensemble, where again he assumes the role of composer and conductor, and the other, where he is part of the group and re-engages with Ellman. However, on the Double Up ensemble here, Threadgill has doubled down on the pianos by adding a third. The group is David Bryant – piano, Luis Perdomo – piano, and David Virelles – piano and harmonium. Not on piano is Curtis Robert Macdonald – alto saxophone, Roman Filiu – alto saxophone, alto flute, Christopher Hoffman – cello, Jose Davila – tuba, and finally Craig Weinrib – drums, percussion.

The rich panoply of instruments gives Threadgill many choices to use in his compositions and he mixes the voices well, but this recording is really all about the piano - all three of them - and it is the first sound one hears on the album. On the opening "Game is Up," each piano introduce a distinct strand of interlocking parts, as the other other musicians slowly filter in. The composition feels somewhat fragmentary and complex as seemingly incomplete melodic ideas appear and then move on, that is until Davila introduces a punchy bass line towards the final moments of the track. Then, a delicious interplay of strings and low brass ensues, and the kinetic crisscrossing strings are buoyed by the big brassy bass lines.

‘Clear and Distinct from the Other’ certainly starts differently than the previous tune. A snippet of sparse melody from a single piano is quickly overtaken by woodwind and cello. A slowly building but fractured melody emerges in their interweaving. The different snippets connect loosely until the brass again introduces a punchy theme, and the modern classical veers into lively modern jazz.

Double Up Plays Double Up Plus is a substantial album but in a very approachable way . It is both dedicated to Threadgill's own musical systems but also organic in its expression. As Virelles states, “it always feels like the blues, funky and soulful.”
By Paul Acquaro

muzycy:
Curtis Robert Macdonald: alto saxophone
Roman Filiu: alto saxophone, alto flute
Christopher Hoffman: cello
Jose Davila: tuba
David Bryant: piano
Luis Perdomo: piano
David Virelles: piano, harmonium
Craig Weinrib: drums, percussion

utwory:
1. Game Is Up 22:48
2. Clear and Distinct from the Other A 09:55
3. Clear and Distinct from the Other B 06:14
4. Clear and Distinct 08:27
5. Quote and Credits 01:29

total time - 38:53
wydano: 2018-07-05
nagrano: Recorded at Water Music, Hoboken, NJ, September 24-25, 2017

more info: www.pirecordings.com