Everything went black. So I poured 2 glasses of wine (for my wife & I) by the glow of the iPhone light, powered up my JBL Flip 5 Bluetooth speaker . . . and listened to this hybrid palette of experimental, ambient & ether-jazz fusion until the electricity once again breathed life back into our appliances . . .
. . . & then poured some MORE wine!
01 Biosphere & Deathprod – Muses-C (edit) 02 A Winged Victory for the Sullen – Metro, Pt. 3 03 Nadia Sirota & Liam Byrne – Letter EE 04 Triosk – Lazyboat 05 Jan Jelinek – Moiré [Strings] 06 Thomas Strønen/Time is a Blind Guide – Fugitive Places 07 Miles Davis – L’Assassinat De Carala 08 Lynne Arriale – I Hear a Rhapsody 09 Jan Garbarek – Desolate Mountains II 10 Thomas Strønen/Time is a Blind Guide – Tension 11 Nadia Sirota & Liam Byrne – Letter RR 12 Jan Jelinek – Do Dekor 13 Sun Ra – New Day 14 Brian Groder – Water Prayer 15 Wynton Marsalis – Think of One 16 Machine Mass feat. Dave Liebman – Centipede 17 The Wrong Object – Saturn
My first album was ‘Holon‘ (2008/ECM). . . and I was hooked (line & sinker). What Nik & his Ronin: Sha (altosax, bass, and contrabass clarinets), Kaspar Rast (drums) & Jeremias Keller (bass); his Mobile: Sha (altosax, bass, and contrabass clarinets) & Nicolas Stocker (perkussion) perform musically is captivating in composition, beat, rhythmic groove and flow –great for both your automobile and via earbuds.
Track 1 is an ether/ambient ghost edit (a treated layer of the composition atop the original) we tinkered with for 2016’s ‘black elements‘ podcast.
Real. Jazz. Right. Now. Updated for 2024 @ 320 bps!
All tracks ripped from their original vinyl albums (occasional snaps, crackles & pops testify to that)
Happy New Year 2024 everyone! We’re ringing it OUT with some Dixieland, and will ring it IN tomorrow with an Ambient show.
Stream/Download via Hear.This:
01 [00:00] Thelonious Monk – Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea 02 [07:32] Kirk Lightsey – Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum 03 [12:02] Dexter Gordon – Ruby My Dear 04 [20:33] Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy – Think 05 [21:58] Count Basie – The Second Time Around 06 [26:19] Miles Davis – Round Midnight 07 [32:06] Earl Hines Trio – The Girl From Ipanema 08 [34:09] The Benny Goodman Quartet – Memories of You 09 [35:59] Lionel Hampton – Lady Be Good 10 [45:29] Louis Armstrong – The Faithful Hussar 11 [50:23] Harry James – Sweet Georgia Brown 12 [53:15] Duke Ellington – Take the A Train 13 [61:10] Wynton Marsalis – Knozz Moe-King 14 [67:06] Sphere – Flight Path 15 [71:40] Phil Napoleon & his Memphis Five – Limehouse Blues 16 [74:14] Al Hirt – South
Straight up! Classic Jazz chestnuts from a 2007 remixed/modified podcast . . .
Listen/Stream via Hear.This
01. 00:00 Kirk Lightsey – Moon Ra 02. 03:43 David Chesky – Waltz for Libby 03. 08:36 Richard Stoltzman – Goodbye 04. 12:50 Stanley Jordan – Round Midnight 05. 17:39 Jan Garbarek & Rainer Bruninghaus – Desolate Mountains 06. 24:29 Paul Motion Trio – Harmony 07. 31:24 Eberhard Weber – A Walk in the Garrigue 08. 34:40 Tomasz Stanko Quartet – Suspended Variations 4 09. 41:33 Charles Mingus – Self-Portrait In Three Colors 10. 44:37 Oliver Nelson – Stolen Moments 11. 53:17 Garrett-Metheny-Whitaker-Blade – Alabama 12. 59:16 Paul Motion Trio – The Riot Act 13. 63:43 Bill Frisell – Tony 14. 67:18 Antonio Hart – Woody I (on the new ark)
elements_a l l u v i o n | Ether-Jazz/Neo-Classical/Jazz/Minimal | 82:15
Alluvion [əˈlo͞ovēən] noun: the action of forming a new entity or composition by deposition, creative reformation . . .
. . . or deft mix work.
This is a tribute to Wolfert Brederode’s ‘Ruins and Remains‘ (ECM 2022); a Classical/Ether-Jazz composition that is absolutely gorgeous to the ears as well as the emotions! Sparse, introspective & tantalizing, Mr Brederode has succeeded in crafting his first suite; for piano, string quartet & percussion. At the first listening, our wheels were turning towards the mixological possibilities!
…..“At a number of levels, the piece has to do with grief and loss and learning …..to stand up again,” …..Dutch pianist Brederode says
…..“It certainly is, at a number of levels, a ‘stand up’ work” …..— Ambient Landscape
…..“A sense of lyricism that seemingly teases the melody from whichever ….context he is working in, often sparse yet always …..beautiful.“ …..–Nick Lea, Jazz Views
We re-ordered & mixed the album’s fourteen tracks, along with several other ether-jazz and avant-garde artists, to form an evocative & compelling listening/wrap-around experience. This, by far, one of the most meticulous projects I’ve immersed myself in, in a long time — reworking the track-list and adding additional tracks multiple times . . . after I thought it was “complete”.
Listen, etc. via Hear.This:
01 Serries, Vanderstraeten & Verhoeven – Emission (sampled excerpt) 02 Jakob Ullmann – Disappearing Musics (morphed quantum excerpt) 03 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Ruins and Remains 04 Ayumi Tanaka Trio – Ichi 05 Goncalo Almeida – Monólogos a Dois VI 06 rand – Disabled Seconds 07 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Remains ……08 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Ruins II ……09 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Ruins IV 10 Duo Gazzana – Waterfall 11 Michele Rabbia, Gianluca Petrella & Eivind Aarset – What the Water Brings 12 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Dissolve ……13 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Retrouvailles ……14 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – March ……15 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Ruins I 16 Markus Reuter & Matangi Quartet – X Has Taken a Shine to You 17 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Ruins III 18 Jakob Bro, Arve Henriksen & Jorge Rossy – To Stanko 19 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Ka 20 Ensemble Ektòs – Part 7 21 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Duhra ……22 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Swallow ……23 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Nothing for Granted ……24 Wolfert Brederode, Matangi Quartet & Joost Lijbaart – Cloudless 25 Erik K Skodvin – Shining, Burning
elements cornerstone | Avant Garde/Ether Jazz/Jazz/Noise | 80:31
“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Isaiah 28:16
Experimental excursions into heretofore uncharted, Jazz-ish territory . . .
I’ve been associated (by way of crafting podcasts) with this genre of avant-garde jazz, predominantly of out of Belgium, since 2018 (TONUS Tribute mix). At first, I sprinkled the TONUS tracks in amongst other, avant-garde & experimental sounding artists. Slowly, however, I began to appreciate more and more the tone, texture & timbre of the work of Dirk Serries & Company’s ‘A New Wave of Jazz’.
At first blush, the listener may hear only discordant, improvised ‘noise’ – but I would encourage you to re-listen to the intricate nuances & balance contained within the scope of their work. Improvised? Yes, indeed! But, in sync with one another’s sense of musical timing and “erratic harmony”, the flow can be utterly captivating. It goes without saying that I have acquired a distinct taste for this New Wave of Jazz!
This edition is both a retrospective as well as an embracing of some of the group’s newer offerings (tracks 4, 6, 10, 12, 13 & 16). Track 14, courtesy of ECM.
elements_brick by brick | Jazz/Ether-Jazz/Avant Garde/Minimal | 69:06
An Avant-Garde/Experimental mashup (with a smidgeon of Jazz tossed in for balance) of texture & flavor. Using virtually the same artist roster, this is the follow-up to ‘Arid Desert Flower’.
The “bricks” were rearranged (last brick added was Chosen Spindle) at least three times before we set the mortar. It is, I think, the BEST iteration!
Eclectic combinations of scratchy noise disguised as music (sometimes bordering on melody!); extraneous machinations and utterances never before heard via strings, woodwinds & reeds!
Predominantly sourced from A New Wave of Jazz’s recent (June ~ August) catalog releases, this also introduces works by Ensemble Ektòs, rand (rand will appear on September’s #ambient podcast as well) & Matthew Whiteside — which fit in perfectly with the avant-garde/experimental sound for which I was striving. (the title & art were driven by one of the albums represented herein: The Sage Flower, by Guilherme Rodrigues & Dirk Serries).
A pleasure in the construction, I’ve watched (and listened) to the various iterations of A New Wave of Jazzover these past several years — and have tried to keep up with the innovation & improvisation presented with each new bundle of releases. I think that this podcast represents, thus far, the best I’ve heard to date. It stands upon the shoulders of previous compositions and yet, incredibly, inches forward & onward! (and, btw, check out Martina Verhoeven’s whirl-wind piano-work on track 12!)
A 2 parter (remixed from the 2005 original & inspired by a recent interview by Rick Beato with Pat Metheny), that grew out of my use of Mr. Metheny within this current ‘elements’ series; though he often gets a skewed rap as a “Smooth Jazz” artist, I’d bet that (like track 13 from the Frankenstein Mix concept) more people are into his stuff than care to admit it…and…the man can play!
As I started digging through the stacks, I unearthed fifteen albums by either Metheny, his Group or side projects (some of which I haven’t played in several years). I attempted to keep the ratio of Jazz to South American-influenced beats fairly even…and started cutting so many songs that it eventually grew into a double set. Unfortunately I couldn’t use anything off ‘The Falcon & the Snowman’ soundtrack or ‘Zero Tolerance for Silence’, as they just didn’t fit the “feel” of this double-shot.
My favorite of all the albums represented herein has to be ‘Question & Answer’, recorded with Dave Holland on bass and Roy Haynes on drums; I can set that one on ‘repeat’ @ the office and go just about all day long.
Mixed, including spaces between many of the compositions, so as to enhance f-l-o-w (vs. chronology) with a new track added to the project from the 2005 original mix.
7A – Listen . . . via Mixcloud or Sync (part a; b will post in 2 weeks)
7A 01 Pat Metheny – Last Train Home (acoustic solo) (One Quiet Night/Warner Brothers-2003) 02 Pat Metheny/Charlie Haden – Cinema Paradiso (Beyond the Missouri Sky/Verve-1997) 03 Pat Metheny Group – If I Could (First Circle/ECM-1984) 04 Pat Metheny Group – Across The Sky (Imaginary Day/Warner Brothers-1997) 05 Pat Metheny (acoustic solo) – My Song (Jarrett) (One Quiet Night/Warner Brothers-2003) 06 Pat Metheny Group – Are You Going With Me? (Offramp/ECM-1981) 07 Pat Metheny Group -Into the Dream (Imaginary Day/Warner Brothers-1997) 08 Pat Metheny Group – Spring Ain’t Here (Letter From Home/Geffen-1989) 09 Pat Metheny Group – So it May Secretly Begin (Still Life Talking/Geffen-1987) 10 Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius & Bob Moses – Bright Sized Life (Bright Sized Life/ECM 1976) 11 Pat Metheny/Steve Rodby – Rain River (Secret Story/Geffen-1992) 12 Metheny, Holland & Haynes – Question & Answer (Question & Answer/Geffen-1990) 13 Pat Metheny/John Scofield – S.C.O. (I Can See Your House From Here/Blue Note-1994) 14 Pat Metheny/Kenny Garrett – Lonnie’s Lament (Pursuance/Warner Brothers-1996) 15 Pat Metheny Group – Last Train Home (Still Life Talking/Geffen-1987)
7B 01 Pat Metheny/Charlie Haden – The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Beyond the Missouri Sky/Verve-1997) 02 Pat Metheny/Skaila Kanga – Tell Her You Saw Me (Secret Story/Geffen-1992) 03 Pat Metheny – Over on 4th Street (One Quiet Night/Warner Brothers-2003) 04 Pat Metheny Group – To the End of the World (We Live Here/Geffen-1995) 05 Pat Metheny – Cathedral in a Suitcase (Secret Story/Geffen-1992) 06 Pat Metheny Group – A Story within the Story (Imaginary Day/Warner Brothers-1997) 07 Pat Metheny/Kenny Garrett – Liberia (Pursuance/Warner Brothers-1996) 08 Pat Metheny Group – The Girl Next Door (We Live Here/Geffen-1995) 09 Pat Metheny Group – The First Circle (The First Circle/ECM-1984) 10 Pat Metheny / John Scofield – No Way Jose (I Can See Your House From Here/Blue Note-1994) 11 Pat Metheny/Gary Burton – Reunion (Reunion/GRP-1990) 12 Metheny Holland & Haynes – Three Flights Up (Question & Answer/Geffen-1990)