News and updates about Luminescence Records releases
...Bayne is a fine composer and each piece is strong and thoughtfully conceived and played. "Cranes Wheel and Whirl and Are Gone" is a lovely, laid back and exquisite work, calm and dreamy. "Irreverent" speeds up and slows down organically with a rich and graceful elegance that is most touching. In some ways this disc is more mainstream sounding than most things we review here, yet I still find this disc to be immensely charming and exciting on a more restrained level. Often beautiful beyond words.
...Mr. Bayne sounds as if he is playing an upright piano from an older era yet it feels just right. It sounds at times as if he is playing a harp the way an angel plays one, heavenly. Sublime and gently hypnotic. It actually sounds as if they are playing some standard in a bar where the atmosphere is filled with smoke and somber vibes. One of the more hypnotic discs I've heard recently and evocative of late-night dreamworld vibes.
This split two group disc was recorded live in January of 2007 and both groups share a couple of members. All members of both groups except for drummer Nori Tanaka can be found on previous discs that we've listed from various Chicago area outfits. The Josh Berman Group features Josh on trumpet & compositions (CD on Demark), Keefe Jackson on tenor sax & bass clarinet (also on Delmark), Jason Adasiewicz on vibes (Cuneiform CD), Anton Hatwich on bass (self-produced discs) and Nori Tanaka on drums. The instrumentation for this quintet is similar to Eric Dolphy's 'Out to Lunch' album except that Keefe Jackson plays tenor instead of alto sax. The sound is similar as well, except that this session is more occasionally more laid back but adventurous in other ways. Mr. Berman takes some great solos while the rest of the quintet spin tightly around him, accelerating organically and weaving a tight web of rhythm. Josh writes quirky tunes which go through a series of odd changes in direction. During "On Account of a Hat", the quintet is broken into interconnected subsections, the horns going one way while the vibes/bass/drums go another way, yet somehow they all remain connected.
The Keefe Jackson's Quartet features Keefe on tenor & bass clarinet, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Jsaon Robke on bass & Nori Tanaka on drums. This group is even more intense and filled with steam & bluster. It is great to hear Jeb Bishop, who was once a member of the Vandermark 5 wailing again. The frontline with Keefe on tenor & Jeb on trombone sounds great with creative, tight rhythm team to back them up. What's interesting about this quartet is the way they deal with textures and structures. On "Since Then" the rhythm section sizzles while the bass clarinet and trombone play tense drones. Solos by both horns are consistently powerful and often soaring on high. Closing out with "Put My Finger on It", the theme is infectious, with long spirited solos from all members and intricate, ever-shifting playing form the bass and drums. Even though there are two bands here, the shared members and creative thread makes this disc superb from the beginning to the end.
This is Klang's second disc & it features James Falzone on clarinet, Jason Adasiewicz on vibes, Jason Roebke on bass and Tim Daisy on drums. Chicago-area clarinetist James Falzone runs the Allos label and leads a few different bands like Vox Arcana, Allos Musica & Klang. Vibes-man Jason Adasiewicz works with Mike Reed, Josh Berman & Aram Shelton and has a fine disc out as a leader on Cuneiform. Contrabassist Jason Roebke has collaborated with many musicians like Scott Fields, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Harris Eisenstadt and Tigersmilk. Drummer Tim Daisy has worked with everyone from the Vandermark 5 to Fred Anderson & leads Dragons 1976.
Everything I've heard from Mr. Falzone I have enjoyed and this one is even better than usual. For "G.F.O.P." Falzone's nimble clarinet soars on top, while Adasiewicz's vibes add a floating cushion of spacious support. When an ambulance siren goes off in the first piece, it occurs at just the right moment adding some instant punctuation to the proceedings. Roebke's "Dwarfs" sounds very much like a song on Eric Dolphy's 'Outward Bound' album with the vibes adding the right amount of crisp counterpoint. This piece recalls Dolphy's 'Out to Lunch' album which featured Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. The long clarinet solo and drums are in fine form throughout this wonderful work. "Still Life" is more like a calm, third stream piece with lush harmonies for the clarinet and vibes and exquisite rhythm team work. "Last Love Song" has some of the most relaxed and haunting clarinet solos of this set. What knocks me out about this quartet is their ability to snap back and forth between written and short freer sections executing those occasional hairpin turns with grace and resourcefulness. The one cover tune here is Ellington's classic "Solitude" which is done sublimely. This disc is a particularly strong program from some of Chicago's best musicians.
The D Bayne Septet features Dan Nicholson on alto sax, Steve Alford on bass clarinet, BJ Cord on trumpet, Andy Baker on trombone, D Bayne on piano & compositions, Matt Thompson on bass and Joe Adamik on drums. The liner notes by Kenny Dread discuss the history & influence of "cool jazz" in the fifties vs. the explosion of free/jazz self-expression in the sixties. This signals the way for us to place the D Bayne Septet into the third stream of cool jazz more than fifty years later. No problem, this music fits well within those parameters and sounds great to me. The ever-evolving Chicago-area underground scene continues to show us numerous tributaries both known and little-known. I am not familiar with any members of this fine septet but I am impressed nonetheless. "Ladder" has a lovely, calm vibe with some graceful, well-conceived harmonies for the four horns and a strong alto solo to reckon with. The rhythm team is also in fine form with a short, superb bass solo towards the end of this piece. Each tune features thoughtful arrangements with inspired solos from each of the four horns as well as a buoyant, flowing cushion of support from the piano, bass and drums. In the fifties, this record would've been on a major label like Pacific Jazz, Verve or even RCA, but in today's dismal market it is up to the artists themselves to release their own discs via CD, album or even download. After listening to one great song after another with a wealth of superb solos throughout, I find it sad that so few will get a chance to hear such great music from musicians who have obviously worked hard to deliver the goods. I look forward to hearing the other five discs on this newer label.
The album Convergence by the duo Strike featuring pianist Jeff Meyer and percussionist Paul Vaillancourt includes new music by composers Chen Yi, Brooke Joyce, Marc Mellits, Daniel Koontz and James David. This is an impressive duo performing new music from mostly composers I am not familiar with except for Chen Yi who has two discs out on New World as well as a dozen other labels. Ms. Yi's China West Suite is written for marimba & piano, was inspired by folk music from West China and is in four parts. The piece has a charming, playful quality with a bit of Zappa-like whimsy. The second part is a dreamy interlude while the intricate interplay on part three shows how the marimba and piano are perfect companions with a similar timbral range. The fourth part has that intense, near-frantic pace that gets me so excited. Brooke Joyce's Sacred Trees was inspired by the trees of the Native American burial grounds in Iowa known as Effigy Mounds. This piece is also a suite in six short parts. The piece balances between the mysterious and other-worldly sounds of playing inside the piano with the ghostlike sounds of ritualistic gongs and cymbals. It feels as if time is moving slowly, similar to the way trees gradually grow towards the sun. "Tight Sweater Remix" by Marc Mellits seems like an odd title for a modern composition but it is a tight, complex well-written work for piano & marimba, rambunctious and quite spirited. The next piece, Daniel Koontz' Soft Stillness and the Night comes from an opposite world. Ultra subtle in part with the exquisite use of silence and space and occasional bursts of activity. The final work is Jim David's Duo Toccata which employs the ringing tones of gongs with see-sawing piano lines. The effect is quietly mesmerizing, creating a playful dreamworld with a sprinkling of joyous melodies. It would seem that the two members of Strike have selected these composers and pieces so that this entire disc is engaging throughout and it works as a well-integrated program.
...Although this is a recording of solo piano, there is much more going on. Mr. Bayne carefully blends in aleatoric sounds to the written or improvised parts, adding a sly sonic seasoning that evokes ghosts or spirits. Notes echo or sustain while a car passes by, a distant radio or static add a sense of mystery... The background ambiance changes on each piece as does the placement of the piano in the foreground or background... kind of like wandering around a dream or maze of scenes. Highly recommended if you want to transported somewhere else.
Gravel parking lot, rainfall, listen to Meditations on Present Time, hear car wheels roll, footsteps, an umbrella opens, raindrops dripped down from early Spring oak leaves strike the windshield and roof, only then may one's imminent environment join, through the stereo, the reverie of D Bayne's transcendence.
Whereas many ambient albums are concerned with creating mood and forging a subtle sonic backdrop to life and the world in some way or another, Meditations on Present Time sees Bayne use the ambience of life as a background to his contemplative instrumental pieces. Taking field recordings captured in a range of locations, the tracks reflect very different types of space. From the bustling human traffic of ‘The French Quarter’ to the trickling breeze of ‘Chapel Rock, Lake Superior’...
In de grote hal van Amsterdam Centraal staat een vleugel. Daar pingelen amateurs wel eens aandoenlijk een deuntje op, maar vaker sta je versteld omdat iemand die echt kan spelen het klavier beroert. En dan blijf je toch even stilstaan om eens goed te luisteren. Of je neemt zo'n flard fraaie muziek mee als je door de gangen loopt of in de trein stapt. Het lijkt wel of D Bayne (ja, om de een of andere reden zonder punt) een stel microfoons opgesteld had op CS....
Der vielfach ausgezeichnete US-amerikanische Komponist und Pianist D Bayne lädt auf seiner aktuellen Veröffentlichung Meditations On Present Time (Luminescence Records) anhand von Field Recordings und locker interagierender Klaviermusik zu zwölf Spaziergängen durch Chicago, New Orleans sowie den National Lakeshores in Michigan ein. Ob er sich dabei mit urbanen Transportwegen, natürlichen Landschaften oder dem Flair des French Quarter auseinandersetzt, wird in den Linernotes zwar exakt beschrieben, doch die Wege, die seine Kompositionen einschlagen, bleiben offen genug, um dem Hörer eine Verknüpfung mit der Wahrnehmung der eigenen Außenwelt zu ermöglichen...
Der Pianist D Bayne reagiert mit anderen Mitteln auf das was draußen passiert. Meditations On Present Time (Luminescence) fügt minimal repetitive Klavierimprovisation zum Chicagoer Straßenleben – wenn die Straßenbahn kommt muss er härter in die Tasten hauen um noch wahrgenommen zu werden.
...Scenes are played out as an observation piece where Bayne sits back and takes in his chosen environments. Occasionally he wanders and encounters random folk singing in the street, as well as the hustle and bustle of daily life; and piano keys slow and pick up the pace when it is required...
...Bayne’s travels take him from city to shore, café to ferry, and wherever he goes, he hears the environment as music. His natural gift is to bring out the inherent musicality of these sounds by enhancing them with notes, in the same way as spices can help to enhance the flavor of food. One of the album’s finest passages arrives a minute into “East Washington Street at Night,” as the piano responds to the chaos of the streets before finding its rhythm and echoing it once again. On Meditations on Present Time, a blur occurs not only between field recording and music, but between artist and subject as well...