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| Mercury |
| Curlew |
| első megjelenés éve: 2003 |
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| (2003)
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CD |
| 3.801 Ft
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| 1. | Still
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| 2. | Funny Money
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| 3. | Leaven
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| 4. | Call
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| 5. | Late Date/There Is
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| 6. | Ludlow
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| 7. | Small Red Dance
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| 8. | Still Still
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| 9. | Song of New
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Jazz / Rock, Jazz-Rock
Anne Elias Cover Art
Bruce Golden Drums, Electronics
Chris Parker Piano, Keyboards
Dean Granros Guitar, Photography
Fred Chalenor Bass
George Cartwright Saxophone, Design, Producer
Jason Orris Mixing, Engineer
Matt Murman Mastering
Mike Decapite Liner Notes
Steven Feigenbaum Executive Producer
Troy Zaushny Design
In the words of Option, "Curlew is the best and most obstinately committed band to emerge from New York's Knitting Factory-based alternative music scene...". Curlew was formed in 1979 by George Cartwright, the group's leader, saxophonist, and main composer. Cartwright's compositions are at once direct and mysterious, possessing a clarity and focus that show both Ellington and Ornette assimilated in a most unique way. Backed by the hard-rocking unit of Chris Parker-electric keyboards and piano, Dean Granros-guitar, Fred Chalenor-bass and Bruce Golden-drums, Curlew somehow manage to combine r’n’b swagger and groove with free jazz and wild soloing into a whole that is immediately identifiable as nothing other than Curlew! Curlew are well known and well respected for almost 25 years of exciting work. Mercury is their 10th release; may they rock for another 25!
"As a unit Curlew is focused and structured...(they are) a finely tuned machine with a sparkling identity." – All About Jazz.
Jazz-rock fusion has a bad reputation, and it should; some of the most embarrassing albums of the 1960s and '70s were made under the fusion flag, and the jazz world never fully recovered from the impact made by scores of synthesizer-wielding, funk-faking, chops-drunk fusioneers and their usually mediocre albums. But all that is not to say that a real, vital fusion of jazz and rock is impossible, and, in fact, a number of artists have shown that the two styles really can combine to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Curlew is a band that continues, almost 25 years into the game, to demonstrate just that fact. Led by saxophonist and composer George Cartwright, a mainstay of New York's downtown scene who has worked with everyone from Fred Frith and Bill Laswell to Wayne Horvitz and cellist Tom Cora, Curlew deals in a raw, muscular brand of avant-fusion that retains all the gritty energy of punk rock and marries it to the free-spirited complexity of avant-garde jazz and the skronky abandon of downtown experimentalism. The center doesn't always hold, of course, and there are some disappointing moments on Mercury; "Call," for example, loses shape eventually and stops being very interesting about halfway through. But the vaguely martial, mid-tempo strut of "Late Date" gives way beautifully to the almost ethereal weirdness of "There Is," and the subtly complex rhythmic shifts and bop-flavored melody of "Ludlow" are also impressive. Best of all, perhaps, is the gently, lovely slide-guitar solo that leads into the sturdy groove of "Song of New" at the end of the program. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
Curlew
Active Decades: '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: 1979
Genre: Rock
Styles: Modern Creative, Prog-Rock, Experimental, Jazz-Rock, Experimental Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Avant-Garde Jazz, Avant-Prog
Curlew were formed in 1979 by George Cartwright, who has served as the group's leader, saxophonist, and main composer for nearly three decades. Although Curlew have been viewed as pioneers of New York City's so-called "downtown scene," Cartwright was born in Mississippi and has consistently brought a roadhouse R&B swagger -- not to mention the influence of early hero Ornette Coleman -- to the band's sound. Throughout the '80s and '90s, Curlew served as something of an incubator and showcase for N.Y.C. avant jazz and rock talent. The group's eponymous first album, recorded in 1980, featured Cartwright on alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones along with cellist Tom Cora, guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, bassist Bill Laswell, and drummer Bill Bacon. (In 2008 the album was re-released by Downtown Music Gallery paired with a live disc recorded at CBGB [also in 1980] and featuring Denardo Coleman on drums.)
By the mid-'80s and the release of North America on the European Moers label (later re-released by Cuneiform with live bonus tracks), the bandmembers included guitarists Fred Frith and Mark Howell along with drummer Pippin Barnett. Barnett was a founding member of the Orthotonics and later performed with Cora in the Swiss group Nimal; Cora was also a founding member of Skeleton Crew with Frith and played with many downtown artists of the era, including Eugene Chadbourne and John Zorn. Maverick keyboardist Wayne Horvitz played on Curlew's third album, Live in Berlin, a release that also saw the arrival of guitarist Davey Williams, who -- along with Barnett (and of course Cartwright) -- would remain a mainstay of the band for a number of years.
Curlew's first album of the 1990s (a studio recording released by Cuneiform) was Bee, and marked the first appearance of bassist (and vocalist on a fine rendition of Cream's "As You Said") Ann Rupel, who also played in the group No Safety. One of Curlew's more experimental releases, the 1993 A Beautiful Western Saddle, featured singer Amy Denio and lyrics by poet Paul Haines. By 1996's Paradise, drummer Barnett had been replaced by Samm Bennett, also a member of Third Person, a trio that included Cora. Bennett was also leader of the N.Y.C. jazz-rock band Chunk. In addition, Paradise featured Chris Cochrane, another member of No Safety, on second guitar. By 1998's Fabulous Drop, Bennett was gone from the drummer's chair, replaced by Kenny Wollesen, one of the most prolific drummers in New York creative jazz.
By the new millennium, most vestiges of the downtown scene had moved from the geographic center of Lower Manhattan, with punky CBGB and the late-arriving avant jazz-centered Tonic soon to disappear and the Knitting Factory long having hitched its wagon to more mainstream rock (the Stone remaining one of the few venues consistently serving up adventurous creative fare on the Lower East Side). While Brooklyn (where a lot of "downtowners" lived anyway) in many ways took over as the locus for what might have been termed downtown music in earlier decades, by then George Cartwright had moved to -- somewhat surprisingly -- the Twin Cities of Minnesota, while still fully immersed in avant jazz and keeping the Curlew story alive and ongoing.
The ironically titled Meet the Curlews (released in 2002, again on Cuneiform) featured Cartwright and Williams with a band whose members lived in places that would make the prospect of weekly rehearsals exceedingly difficult: drummer Bruce Golden (who Cartwright says is his "oldest [and] longest...musical pal") is a lifelong Mississippean, keyboardist Chris Parker lives in Memphis, and bassist Fred Chalenor (Wayne Horvitz, Hughscore) is from Seattle. In 2003 this lineup, with Minnesota guitarist Dean Granros replacing Davey Williams, appeared on Mercury, the eighth Curlew album to be released by Cuneiform. Regarding Williams, Cartwright vowed "he'll be back," suggesting the possibility of a two-guitar lineup with both Williams and Granros at some point in the future. The diverse energy of Curlew's various bandmembers has kept the group continually on the creative cutting edge throughout its history, and any particular version of the band is filled with surprises and dynamic musical interactions.
---Bill Tilland & Dave Lynch, Rovi |
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