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CD Reviews
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Glenn Astarita for Jazz Review
The preponderance of modern jazz and jazz-improvisation aficionados should be well aware of what these respective stylists bring to the proverbial table as their resumes disclose alignments with a who's who of cutting-edge artistes. The trio's fourth effort serves as a continuation of roads previously traversed. No doubt, they're an exciting unit. Again, they stand rather tall among their peers via their inventive interplay and semi-structured vehicles, loaded with compelling improvisational metrics and much more.
The trio instills power and subtly with gradually ascending mini-motifs and interweaving dialogues. With violinist Billy Bang's soaring staccato lines, the musicians often expand and contract various thematic fronts amid varying degrees of intensity and climactic passages. For example, drummer Barry Altschul drops a few bombs during the fervent group exchanges heard on "Fabmusic Opening," while bassist Joe Fonda executes at a furious pace. But they eventually temper the heated flows down to a whisper, akin to a battery-operated clock slowly losing its power.
Highs, lows and alternating pitches are the basis for many of the artists' dynamics. On "Go East – Da Bang," the violinist takes an unaccompanied solo spot followed by Altschul who solos and rockets the group into free-bop terrain. Then on the final piece "Fabmusic Continuation – Spirits Entering," they lean more towards the avant schema, nicely dappled by the drummers use of woodblocks, press rolls and cowbell hits. In addition, Bang's compact phrasings help steer his band-mates into off-kilter March-like choruses, shuffle-swing grooves, and a quaintly melodic ostinato movement. Hence, the fine art of improvisation looms rather large throughout this cunning and impressionable exposition.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2009 Jazz Review and Glenn Astarita.
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Bruce Lee Gallanter for Downtown Music Gallery
Featuring Joe Fonda on bass, Barry Altschul on drums and Billy Bang on violin, recorded live at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam in April of 2008. This is fourth fabulous disc from the great FAB trio and like the previous ones, this one is also live. For this disc, the trio plays three long, organic and inspired pieces. You can tell that this trio has been playing and touring for the past few years since they play so well together. The first piece is appropriately called "FABMusic Opening" and with a hot solo by Billy Bang at the beginning and at the end. In the middle, Joe and Barry solo together and do an amazing job of swirling intricately around one another. The second piece is quite long (nearly 31 minutes) is in two parts, "Go East" by Joe Fonda and "Da Bang" by Barry Altschul. While Billy plays a slow, bluesy and exotic solo, Joe burns underneath with streams of bubbling bass notes. Billy's unaccompanied violin is exquisite and features Billy's distinctive and haunting sound/approach. Barry Altschul, who has been one of the creative avant/jazz drummers since the mid-sixties, takes a long, impressive drum solo that only an old master of percussion like himself could do. The final piece "FABMusic Continuation / Spirits Entering" is a thoughtful, freer excursion that builds organically to a grand conclusion. The FAB Trio remain one of the finest of all modern avant/jazz trios.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2009 Downtown Music Gallery and Bruce Lee Gallanter.
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Terrell Kent Holmes for All About Jazz, published June 01, 2009
If three previous live albums weren't proof enough, Live in Amsterdam underscores how the FAB Trio thrives on the high-wire act of playing in front of an audience. Bassist Joe Fonda, drummer Barry Altschul and violinist Billy Bang treat the crowd at the Bimhuis Jazz Club to some excellent avant-garde virtuosity that, although lengthy and involved, is neither overlong nor self-indulgent.
The trio, in various permutations, artfully blends free and straight-ahead elements to create ambitious, complex tunes. "Fabmusic Opening," for example, begins as an extended, high energy duet between Altschul and Fonda; after Bang's cyclonic solo, the band builds off his energy beautifully and ends with a playful stop-time coda centered on Altschul's nimble percussion. On the epic "Go East/Da Bang" Fonda's bass alternates between a robust pizzicato and an empathetic arco, the sophistication and power of Altschul's drumming here recalling the genius of Elvin Jones. Bang, however, is dominant, his violin invoking the sound of mischievous laughter or the growl of a buzz saw or hitting high notes at canine frequencies, walking the fine line between musicianship and wizardry. The trio shows an even greater range on "Fabmusic Continuation/Spirits Entering." Initially Bang plays a quaint pizzicato to complement Fonda's mournful bowing, then the song explodes into bop territory. Fonda puts down the bow and plucks demonically, Bang squeals and screeches like a madman and Altschul adds startling accents and polyrhythms to his already stellar timekeeping.
The interplay throughout Live in Amsterdam is peerless. Even if Fonda, Altschul and Bang seem to play independently at times, they've worked together so much that they're always in sync and act on each other's thoughts immediately. This simpatico gives their sound an enviable seamlessness that's a pleasure to hear. The music is excellent and the three veterans' exhilarating adventurism and disregard for conventional musical boundaries results in an enthralling document.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2009 All About Jazz and Terrell Kent Holmes.
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Clifford Allen for Bagatellen, published May 28, 2009
FAB Trio and Nu Band on Porter
Bassist-composer Joe Fonda has been a stalwart figure in the international creative improvisation community since the late ‘70s, though his fifteen years of regular appearances with reedman-composer Anthony Braxton probably stand out the most in his lengthy discography. However, it would be incomplete to call Fonda solely a Braxton acolyte - his work with pianist Michael Jefry Stevens (in the Fonda/Stevens Group and Conference Call, with Gebhard Ullmann) fits more squarely in neo-Romantic post-bop, while his work with saxophonist Mark Whitecage and violinist Billy Bang explore freewheeling harmonic relationships while remaining rhythmically rock-solid. This latter point is driven home by two recent releases on Porter Records from FAB (Fonda, drummer Barry Altschul and Bang) and the Nu Band (Fonda, Whitecage, drummer Lou Grassi, trumpeter Roy Campbell, Jr.).
FAB Porter 4014
The Fonda-Altschul-Bang, or FAB, Trio was founded in 2003 and Live in Amsterdam is their fourth release (and second this year, paired with A Night in Paris on Marge), recorded live at the Bimhuis. The joining of violin, bass, and drums is a collusion of sounds that harks back to the beginning of loft-era jazz, having its roots in the Revolutionary Ensemble (which was composed of violinist Leroy Jenkins, bassist Sirone and drummer Jerome Cooper). But one can't fairly compare the two beyond a choice of instrumentation, for Bang inhabits an area more akin to the twin poles of post-Bartok classical music and swirling between-the-knees Indian violin playing than the blues-Trane of Jenkins. "Fabmusic Opening" finds shimmering staccato bounce ricocheting off ruddy long string tones, Fonda's tenacious, buzzing pluck providing the drone that Bang's dusky weave seems to require. Altschul is a force as always, his chattering ba-be a carpet of suspended swing, especially as he goads Fonda's pizzicato into strummed waves and maniacal interdigital phrases. When Bang enters again seven minutes in, he's a triple-stopped whorl of flying horsehairs and arcing shouts. A stop-time march emerges, Altschul's snare and woodblocks darting and snapping at Bang's sharp phrases as Fonda maintains a tense lope. The lengthy closer, "Fabmusic Continuation/Spirits Entering," returns to taut counterpoint, woodblocks and cymbals in a clambering dance with violin strum and ponticello wisps. Bang's nipping scrabble soon builds into longer phrases with reed-biting tenacity, floating atop dry, simmering swing. Beautiful, telepathic, and despite some exigencies with the live recording quality, stands as a powerful testament to the FAB Trio's music.
NuBand Porter 4025
Lower East Side Blues is the third date in six years for the Nu Band, a pianoless quartet joining Fonda with longtime collaborator reedman Mark Whitecage, trumpeter Roy Campbell, Jr. and drummer Lou Grassi on seven originals by the group. In comparison to the music of FAB, the Nu Band might strike one as being rather "straight-ahead," and in some ways it is - a bouncing slice of harmonically open bebop. Campbell's pocket trumpet cuts through the opening title track, his initial salvo casting a bright sheen even as he delves into growls and slurs, the rhythm section coyly modulating its own unshakeable kinetics. Whitecage plies the singsong melody for alternately burnished, cottony nuggets and harrowing screams as Grassi and Fonda subdivide swing into free time. The bassist's solo picks the theme apart in a different manner than either Campbell or Whitecage, focusing on forceful thwacks at varying intervals, isolating downbeats into a biting language all their own. "In a Whitecage" recalls somewhat the Carter-Bradford Quartet in its pairing of measured, near ballad-paced trumpet/clarinet lines with a frantic, loose rhythm. It doesn't take long for the front line to close the gap as Whitecage switches to alto and the pair jumps into searing collective play. Unaccompanied pizzicato brings the tune into "The Path," delicate with a slight East Asian tinge that lazily curlicues around brushy backbeats before unfurling into gorgeous group commentary. Grassi's tune "The Last of the Beboppers" reinforces what the Nu Band brings to the table - namely, a gritty and only slightly unhinged take on post-bop and loose Latin. Yet Lower East Side Blues is ultimately a very bright recording for the connotations of its title.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2009 Bagatellen and Clifford Allen.
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Luc Bouquet for Le son du grisli, published 2009
Certes, il s'agit ici de jazz, de thèmes et d'improvisation, de solistes et de solos. Certes, certes. Mais parce que cette musique est signée Joe Fonda, Barry Altschul et Billy Bang, on dresse l'oreille avec curiosité. Parce qu'on sait qu'avec eux, c'est encore possible. Parce qu'avec eux, le sens du mot collectif n'est pas formule mais nécessité. Et ce qui arrive ici, en ce soir du 16 avril 2008 au Bimhuis d'Amsteram, est bien trop précieux pour qu'on le passe sous silence.
Ce soir, le son est brut de fonte, l'ambiance est électrique. D'emblée, ils improvisent sans filet, ne lâchent rien. C'est limpide et héroïque. Ils s'écoutent, scrutent et sont à l'affût de toute nouvelle proposition. Celle-ci était une fausse piste. Les voici doutant puis, très vite, ils retrouvent le chemin des intensités initiales (Fabmusic Opening). Ailleurs, ils espacent la mélodie (Go East), abandonnent le violoniste en un soliloque anguleux avant de s'en repartir improviser de concert. Musique en perpétuel mouvement, flamboyante, tempétueuse, animée d'une fougue singulière (Spirits Entering), elle ne tombe jamais dans la facilité ou la redite et se construit dans un immédiat toujours partagé. Oui, quelque chose circule magnifiquement entre eux. En atteste ce disque et un second (A Night in Paris / Marge), enregistré trois jours plus tard au Sunset et tout aussi passionnant que celui-ci. S'ils passent près de chez vous, ne les ratez surtout pas !
Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2009 Le son du grisli and Luc Bouquet.
CD Reviews
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Ken Waxman for Jazz Word, published July 13, 2009
FAB Trio
Live In Amsterdam
Porter Records PRCD-4014
Revolutionary Ensemble
Beyond the Boundary of Time
Mutable MM-17532-2
Leroy Jenkins (1932-2007) and his direct successor Billy Bang (b. 1947) occupy unique niches in the history of advanced improvised music. Arguably the first person to fully integrate the violin into both the so-called New Thing and New music, Jenkins' impelled the traditional instrument's rhythmic and lyrical functions beyond those of mere lyricism or rudimentary swing. While the older string player turned increasingly towards formal composition in his final years, shortly afterwards Bang added an additional dimension of unvarnished rhythmic elasticity to Jenkins' fiddle liberation.
These two CDs, recorded live at European concerts, demonstrate the pliable strategies both string players brought to in-the-moment creation – as well as the crucial distinctions between the two's improvising ideas. Live In Amsterdam also appears to be a happier affair than Beyond the Boundary of Time, because it's part of an onward direction for Bang and his FAB bandmates – bassist Joe Fonda and percussionist Barry Altschul. Beyond the Boundary of Time on the other hand, reunites Jenkins with bassist Sirone and percussionist Jerome Cooper, who as the Revolutionary Ensemble (RE) in the early 1970s made memorable, ground-breaking sounds before dissolving.
Unfortunately the five Warsaw-recorded tracks on Beyond the Boundary of Time, while sonically provocative, are weighted with the expanses that had grown among the trio members over the years. Sirone, whose solid strokes, woody slaps and dramatic double-stopping help expand the band's palate, often could be creating separate musical tone poems to the others. That's not surprising, since the long-time Berlin resident now leads his own band with a more conventional jazz instrumentation.
Cooper, whose chief focus since the dissolution of the RE has been solo work, arrives from a contradictory area. On "Le-Si-Jer", for instance, separation among the three is expressed in more ways than the hyphens in the title. Following an ambitious spiccato wave from Jenkins and some sliding triple string actions and a capella plucks from Sirone, the percussionist seems to operate in a vacuum. Despite the bassist's attempts at connective accompaniment, Cooper hammers and stings ballaphone timbres, wails and strains reed suction from the chiramia and mates processed keyboard lines with drum beats as if he was a one-man band.
As for Jenkins, his string stance takes two different directions. On "Improvisation II" there are points where his easy lyricism suggests sweet Stéphanne Grappelli-like glissandi rather than his expected strident col legno and flying spiccato runs. In contrast, a track like "Configuration", which melds slinking arpeggios into a contrapuntal melody, proposes a theme that echoes, if it's not directly linked to, earlier RE compositions.
All and all the most memorable trio work appears as the finale of the second improvisation. With the tempo boiling by degrees, Cooper's rebounds and pop are finally matched with knife-edge sharp notes from Jenkins and guitar-like licks from Sirone. Sul ponticello and layered, the overlapping glissandi makes one regret that this was probably the trio's final recorded stand.
Grappelli is the last violinist one would associate with Bang, whose modus operandi – at least since the leaving the chamber-oriented String Trio of New York in the 1980s – is merging a variant of Jenkins' prodigious technical smarts with the free-for-all swing of both men's fiddle forefather Stuff Smith.
Just like Jenkins' and Smith's identities were instantaneously recognizable when they played, so too is Bang's personality when he solos. With sul ponticello runs, quadruple sweeps and crying stops, it often seems as if he's taking apart his instrument as he plays it, or at least boring into its very wood, rosin and finish.
On this Amsterdam set his bravura strategy is alternately goosed and restrained by the rhythmic thrust of Fonda's back-and-forth string slaps and Altschul's drags with crash accents that announce the drummer's commanding back beat. Overall the trio constructs massive slabs of broken octave melodies that give each enough room for solo invention, without hampering the group effort.
Probably the most spectacular example of that is the concluding "FabMusic Continuation/Spirits Entering". Initially built on pizzicato plucks and shuffle bowing from Bang as well as cow-bell whacks and measured clip clops from Altschul, the almost 27½-minute piece spreads out metaphorically atop Fonda's steady walking. Although Bang, for instance, metaphorically reaches the speed of light in his hocketing forays, he doesn't operate as a cynosure. As elastic as every vibration from any of the men is, the general forward motion of the piece is never lost. Also on show are moderato and andante stopping from Fonda, who brings every part of the instrument from the scroll to the spike in play to inflate the string manipulation. Not to be outdone Altschul's kit reverberates with chiming cymbals and staccatissimo rumbles.
Developing an almost Gospel music-like hand clapping beat, the Bang-composed "Spirits Entering" is introduced as the track's final variation, shifting the previously stop-time tempo with a series of alto saxophone-styled cries from the violinist. As the other two thunder, crash, stroke and slash contrapuntally, Bang's strings explode with phrase after phrase, measure after measure and not after note, culminating in a final recapping of the head.
Live In Amsterdam may be more viscerally exciting, but both CDs exposure top-flight violin-centred improvisations.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2009 Jazz Word and Ken Waxman.
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