John Schott / Dan Seamans / John Hanes: Actual Trio

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 30.10.2015
seria wydawnicza: Spectrum Series
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena: * * * *:
Współpracownik Toma Waitsa, Johna Zorna, The Baguette Quartette, i Stevena Bernsteina sformował kapitalne trio z członkiem New Klezmer Trio - Danem Seamansem na kontrabasie i Johnem Hanesem za perkusją. John Hanes ma za sobą współpracę z wieloma gwiazdami R&B jak Etta James, Lowell Fulsome, Otis Clay, Freddie Roulette, czy Fillmore Slim.

John Schott to bardzo ceniony gitarzysta, jego płyta 'Shuffle Play: Elegies for the Recording Angel' wydana przez New World Recordings dostała zaszczytny tytuł - BEST RECORDS of 2002 - opiniotwórczego The Wire magazine. Z kolei album 'If Four Was One' (Warner Bros), prowadzonej wraz z Charlie'm Hunterem formacji T.J. Kirk dostał w 1997 nominację Grammy Awards.

'Actual Trio' wydana w powstałej w 2014 roku Spectrum Series, w ramach której możemy się cieszyć chociażby wspaniałą 'Double Windsor' tria Sylvie Courvoisier/Drew Gress/Kenny Wollesen to niejako wypadkowo harmolodycznych koncepcji Ornette'a Colemana i abstrakcyjnego funku Jamesa "Blood" Ulmera. Z jednej strony free-jazzowa mieszanina improwizacji z ostrymi, poszarpanymi rytmami przyprawiają o zawrót głowy przejrzstą strukturą i precyzją instruentalną, z drugiej muzycy nasycają swoje kompozycje zdecydowanie nieakademicką emocjonalnością. Słychać tu zarówno sceniczne szlify każdego z muzyków, o których trudno mówić wyłącznie w kategoriach jednego gatunku, jak też gruntowne przgotowanie spełniające najbardziej wyśróbowane z jazzowych kryteriów.

Płyta została nagrana w Berkeley’s Fantasy Studios przez Hansa Wendla (produkcja) i Adama Munoza (realizacja).
autor: Mariusz Zawiślak

"Schott, an awesome nationally-acknowledged guitar whiz…” - San Francisco Chronicle

“Four Stars. Junk Genius is up there in esthetic quality with the inspired glee that Misha Mengelberg, Steve Lacy, and Han Bennink had during their romp through Herbie Nichols and Monk tunes several years ago.” - Down Beat

“Schott, displaying an extraordinary technical command, found his way into the group’s territory
and made it even richer with a panoply of chords, timbres, and effects.” - East Bay Express
Editor's info:
"San Francisco Bay Area guitarist John Schott presents the debut recording of his long-running jazz trio, and third album for New York City-based producer, composer and saxophonist John Zorn's Tzadik record label. As expected, Schott doesn't solely adhere to the tried and true within the jazz guitar trio format. It's not too radical, but not an album constructed on worn out jazz or pop standards.

It's easy to detect the intra-group communication taking place, led by the leader's broad musical vernacular designed with understated melodies and alternating patterns. The musicians fuse blissful movements with soul-blues inferences and roomy arrangements, often touched with searching attributes and the leader's funky breakouts. They also intertwine pumping grooves with swing pulses and off-kilter paradigm shifts.

"Hemophilia (For James "Blood" Ulmer) is seemingly inspired by the idiosyncratic blues, funk and jazz guitarist who put in some quality time with Ornette Coleman before launching a fertile solo career in the early 80s. Yet this piece is centered on a punchy dub groove as the trio's sensitivity is inherent amid bassist Dan Seaman's opening arco notes leading to a driving beat, tastefully executed by drummer John Hanes. Moreover, Schott locks into a fertile improv vehicle atop a punchy beat and a subtle melodic hook, shrewdly juxtaposed by Seaman's contrapuntal melodic responses. The guitarist's capacious developments, ringing harmonics and animated phrasings interweave the jazz and dub element with a personalized trio focused insignia, tinted with quaint delicacies and ethereal hues."-Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz

About Actual Trio
John Schott graduated from Seattle's Cornish College of the Arts, where he studied with Gary Peacock and Julian Priester. In 1992, he and Ben Goldberg formed Junk Genius, which released records on Knitting Factory and Songlines, as well as in other combinations on Tzadik, Nuscope, and Victo. Schott was also, with Charlie Hunter, Will Bernard, and Scott Amendola, a member of the jazz/funk band T.J. Kirk, whose second album If Four Was One (Warner Bros.) received a 1997 Grammy nomination. Schott's CD Shuffle Play: Elegies for the Recording Angel (New World Recordings) featuring his 16-piece Ensemble Diglossia in a 70-minute composition, was named one of the best records of 2002 by The Wire magazine. Schott can also be heard on records by John Zorn, Tom Waits, The Baguette Quartette, and Steven Bernstein.

Dan Seamans has been playing bass in jazz and improvised music settings in the Bay Area since the 1980’s. He was a co-founder of the New Klezmer Trio, credited with pioneering the Radical Jewish Culture movement. They released three CDs, all of which are available on Tzadik. Dan had formative associations with Donald Bailey, Bill Bell, Attila Zoller and Mark Levine, and has recorded 6 albums over 20 years with the Lost Trio, including 2014’s Monkwork.

John Hanes has been an in-demand drummer in the Bay Area since 1977, backing up classic R&B singers Etta James, Lowell Fulson, Otis Clay, Freddie Roulette, and Fillmore Slim. He can be heard on over a hundred CDs, including those of Henry Kaiser, Victor Krummenacher, Mark Karan, Orchestra Nostalgico, Chrome, and Pearl Harbor and the Explosions, as well as on Richard Thompsonʼs soundtrack for the Werner Herzog film Grizzly Man.

muzycy:
John Schott: electric guitar
Dan Seamans: double bass
John Hanes: drums

utwory:
1. Eria [4:41]
2. Actual Theme [5:17]
3. The Egyptians [5:37]
4. By Night's End [4:50]
5. Frequently Asked Question [5:24]
6. Hemophilia (For James Blood Ulmer) [8:34]
7. Hold On Sheldon [4:56]
8. 333 [5:17]

total time - 44:35
wydano: 2015-09-16
nagrano: Recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California on December 21st, 2014 by Adam Munoz.
more info: www.tzadik.com
more info2: www.johnschott.com