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| Variable Sound Density Orchestra |
| Garrison Fewell |
| első megjelenés éve: 2008 |
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| (2009)
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CD |
| 4.620 Ft
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| 1. | Spectronomous
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| 2. | Olorun Song
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| 3. | Ayleristic
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| 4. | Fragment Alignment
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| 5. | The Red Pyramid
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| 6. | Venus
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| 7. | Descent from Orbit
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| 8. | Avant Arla
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| 9. | Calculation at Yaxchilán
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| 10. | Namthini's Shadow
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Jazz
Garrison Fewell - Producer, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar, Percussion
Achille Succi - Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Alto)
Bob Patton - Mastering
Eric Hofbauer - Percussion, Frame Drum, Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
John Voigt - Bass
Garrison Fewell's development from a linear post-bop stylist to creative improvising innovator comes to fruition on this recording with his Variable Density Sound Orchestra, actually a finely honed sextet or septet. Second guitarist Eric Hofbauer lends supple support for these free inventions or thematic vehicles that allow the other combo members great leeway in tone colors and expressionism liberated from relative time signatures or structured meters. This is Roy Campbell, Jr.'s first collaboration with Fewell, and is a master stroke, as the trumpeter's lanky lines and poignant tone mesh beautifully with the guitarist's and Italian alto saxophonist/bass clarinetist Achille Succi's, supported by Fewell's fellow Bostonians bassist John Voight and drummer Miki Matsuki. Avowed influences link Fewell's concept with Sun Ra and Anthony Braxton, but there are also clearly defined parallels to the Art Ensemble of Chicago, John Coltrane, or the European free jazzers of the '70s, as well as ethnic and world music references. That Fewell mixes up stylistic and thematic devices makes the entire recording both intriguing and unpredictable. Short melody fragments, long tones, counterpoint, and controlled spatial cracks identify the well-titled "Spectronomous," "Fragment Alliance" separates the sextet into two independent trios with Succi's twitchy bass clarinet facing off against the guitars, while "Ayleristic," for Albert Ayler, is a free floating piece with soaring horns hardening and dense toward the finish. Campbell's yearning Don Cherry-cum-Lester Bowie trumpet plays opposite to Voight's probing, Malachi Favors-type bass during the free and easy "Olorun Song," while a muted horn evokes desert caravan images on an after-hours mystery train ride for the outstanding "The Red Pyramid," where Succi's alto sax is eventually unveiled at midnight. A bluesy "Descent from Orbit" is a special reprieve of curiosity with the sawing guitars contrasting Campbell's crying brass, while bird chirps from Campbell's flute underpin extended ritual patterns during the instrumental, chant-like "Calculations at Yaxchilan." Campbell joins in on the slide guitar during the dark beat composition of Butch Morris' "Namthini's Shadow," sporting a modal idea similar to Ornette Coleman or Old and New Dreams. At times, it's clear Fewell and Hofbauer have heard their share of Sonny Greenwich and James "Blood" Ulmer, as their phrasing borrows from both, but they retain a role playing persona, letting Campbell and Succi adopt the meatier melody lines. This is as intriguing a project as has been available on the contemporary jazz scene, and comes highly recommended. It's chock-full of inventive musicianship, truly new concepts, and fresh approaches that pay big dividends. What is even more evident is that Fewell and friends pay sincere and serious homage to the tradition of their elders, yet consistently pave new streams of consciousness to go wherever they freely feel like traversing. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
Garrison Fewell
Active Decades: '90s and '00s
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Post-Bop, Mainstream Jazz
Europeans knew about Garrison Fewell's jazz talent long before his fellow Americans discovered him. The Virginia native began his love affair with Europe on a visit to Marseille, France, in 1983. He went on to play hot jazz venues all over the continent, including Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, and Brussels. While the Europeans were learning about Fewell, he was busy learning their languages, becoming fluent in Italian and French. His relative obscurity in his homeland changed, however, with the release from Accurate Records of his first album in 1993. A Blue Deeper Than the Blue brought him to the attention of jazz lovers in the States and earned him a number of honors. Coda Magazine and United Press International included the recording on their lists of the year's ten best. The Boston Music Awards named the debut Best Jazz Album of the Year.
Although the guitarist was born in the Virginia city of Charlottesville, he was raised in Philadelphia, PA. He started playing the stride guitar when he was 11 years old. Interested in acoustic blues, he turned to the music of Reverend Gary Davis, Fred McDowell, and Mississippi John Hurt. During the early '70s, Fewell embarked on a tour that took him to Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan. He came home to the States in 1973 and became a jazz student of Pat Martino and Lenny Breau. At the Berklee College of Music, he earned a performance degree and by 1977, he was teaching at his alma mater. As part of a new exchange program set up between the Boston music school and Holland's Rotterdam Conservatory in 1988, Fewell spent time teaching overseas. While in Rotterdam, he had the opportunity to work with Dutch musicians, including Cees Slinger. Paired with Dave Frank, he performed during the North Sea Jazz Festival. The guitarist settled in Paris the following year, playing jazz and teaching, this time as an American School of Modern Music instructor. That same year he played the Umbria Jazz Festival.
Fewell and Alex Ulanowsky, who worked as a department chairman at the Berklee School of Music, established a musical partnership. The duo developed a method of improvisation and theory instruction. They taught together and performed together, giving workshops in Switzerland and Italy and touring Holland, Austria, and Belgium. The National Endowment for the Arts gifted Fewell with a grant that allowed him to travel to Germany in 1991 and teach in the cities of Weimar, Leipzig, and Freiburg. The following year he taught in Aachen and Cologne, and performed in Freiburg with David Friesen during the Zelt Music Festival. Beginning in 1994, he spent six summers teaching at the Polish Jazz Society. In 1996, Guitar Player Magazine proclaimed Fewell's Are You Afraid of the Dark? Best Record of the Year. The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1997 included his next release, Reflection of a Clear Moon, among the Top Ten Jazz Albums of the Year. Beginning in 1995, the guitarist gave workshops and played the Montreux Jazz Festival for five consecutive years.
--- Linda Seida, All Music Guide |
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