Aram Shelton: Everything For Somebody

Aram Shelton (sax)

Everything For Somebody (Singlespeed Music, 2012)

Keefe Jackson (sax)

Tim Daisy (drums)

Anton Hatwich (bass)

What I've always loved about Aram Shelton is his investigative ethos. He continually challenges himself and his fellow band mates within each composition. This is ever-present on his newest quartet release, Everything For Somebody.

With his quartet, Shelton stays focused on a more traditional sound - a mixture of hard bop and avant garde that works perfectly. The ideas created by Ornette Coleman are here in Shelton's playing but as you move further into the record you fly deeper into the band's vortex.

"Anticipation" opens with beautiful exchanges by Jackson and Shelton. Their performance is really on fire and the addition of the always electrifying Daisy makes the piece a firecracker of an opener. It's fun, challenging and very versatile.

"Everything To Somebody" begins with a slow melodic approach before the group spins into a nice boppish groove carried through by Hatwich and Daisy. Hatwich provides a nice bridge in the middle of the piece for Jackson and Shelton to gather new concepts and rejoin with vibrancy, carrying the tune back to a somber but celebratory conclusion.

I love the freedom Shelton gives the group on "Barely Talking." The main melody and theme are established in the opening lines but from that point on, each musician crafts his own vision. Tim Daisy displays an improvising spirit that for me resembles Andrew Cyrille. Jackson and Shelton apply complimentary notes that flow with aggression and beauty. And there's a great passage in the middle of the piece between Daisy and Hatwich that is simply exquisite...and could have gone on much longer.

While Aram Shelton is pretty much based out of San Francisco now, the distance does not stop this Chicago quartet from sounding as fresh and vibrant as ever. If you were to start your journey into Aram Shelton's material Everything To Somebody is wonderful place to start. Another superb addition to my albums of the year. Highly Recommended.

Arts & Sciences: New You

Arts & Sciences (quartet)

New You (Singlespeed; 2012)

Jordan Glenn (drums)

Jacob Zimmerman (sax)

Michael Coleman (fender rhodes)

Matt Nelson (sax)

The American west coast continues to bubble with urgency, at least on the improvised front, so we turn to Oakland, CA and the dynamic talents of a new quartet, Arts & Sciences. On their second release, New You, released on Aram Shelton's Singlespeed Music (he also plays on one track), this quartet show that they have a lot of improvisational ideas that can fight with the best of the New York and Chicago scenes.

"Baby Boner" slowly rises with delicately paced improvised notes, then folds into a high octane, pulse-pounding collision of sound. It felt like a segment of Miles Davis' Agharta. Dueling tenor and alto saxophones cause a cacophony in the middle section which sound beautiful smashed against Coleman's keys and Glenn's unyielding kit. The quartet later come down gently in a psychedelic interlude of squeals on the rhodes and tiny percussion tones that give off a Steve Reich ambiance. 

The band site Tim Berne is an influence. It can be heard and felt in throughout but that's just the building blocks. Nelson and Zimmerman take that influence and turn it into their own fun, free floating  nihilistic structure. "Scram" illustrates this with a number of challenging expositions and exchanges between the horn section and clashing notes from Coleman and Glenn. The rhythm is easy to pick up but you'll probably be more entranced by how much fun they're having with this piece...brilliant!

"Scientology" is wonderful ensemble piece featuring Aram Shelton on clarinet, Rob Ewing (trombone), Theo Padouvas (trumpet) and Andrew Conklin (guitar). It's almost an improvised balled with echoes of Joe Zawinul sprinkled about. Pleasant yet strikingly bold. It's an expansive piece that allows the musicians a lot of freedom while maintaining a real clear direction.

Arts & Sciences did a brief tour last month; hopefully they'll be able to add some more dates soon. They are band that is worth every effort to see. New You not is a signal that more beautiful sounds keep coming from the west--its also an album deserving of much wider attention here and abroad. Highly Recommended!

Aram Shelton & Kjell Nordeson: Incline

Aram Shelton (sax)

Kjell Nordeson (drums)

Incline (Singlespeed Music; 2011)

Aram Shelton has been one of my favourite discoveries over the last few years. There's a forcefulness and deep intuitiveness to his performances that has always amazed me.

Kejell Nordeson is a terrific and inventive drummer whom I have followed since his days with Swedish outfit Aaly Trio (due to their recordings with Ken Vandermark).

It's no really surprise that these two creative forces finally found each other with their group Cylinder. The two minds are on a very distinct and similar wavelength.

While Cylinder is an improv masterclass, the duo's project, Incline (Singlespeed Music) is more a free-thinking sprawling yet very honed study of personal interplay. "Village" is an incredible opening track. A torrent of sound on par with David S. Ware/Andrew Cyrille. The piece builds rapidly as the two scream back and forth with notes that peel the skin from your eardrum. Fun, eh?!?

"Orbit" is more a solo outing for Nordeson as he picks, clangs, taps and pounds notes from the ether. Beautiful and investigating, it all flows nicely into "Test", a melodic piece that is percussive and emotional. Led by heavy, deep undertones from Shelton and Nordeson create a blossoming atmosphere that fills the space yet is completely free of structure.

"Rig" sees Shelton in the solo role. Here stretching and constructing notes paint a slow moving Jackson Pollack-esque picture. The piece is short but moves nicely into "Soles," a mountain of a piece that rips the top off of everything. Shelton and Nordeson seems to be in a completely higher plane. The piece gets louder and louder with the two seemingly melding into one until a gentle all-halt.

Incline is an album of multi-layered complexity. The unity between the Nordeson and Shelton is very apparent through each note. This is the duo that was long in the making but we are better off for it. Incline is another keen masterpiece in the history of both Aram Shelton and Kjell Nordeson.

This video features Cylinder but gives a great insight into the two musicians unique talents as well as a fascinating look at their quartet.

Cylinder

Cylinder (group)

Cylinder (Clean Feed; 2011)

Aaram Shelton (sax)

Darren Johnston (trumpet)

Lisa Mezzacappa (bass)

Kjell Nordeson (drums)

I have become a huge fan of Aram Shelton's work over the last couple years. His various groups/projects are all very different. His departure to San Francisco from Chicago adds a great new thinker to the ever growing West Coast avant garde and free jazz movement.

With his latest collective work, Cylinder, Shelton actually becomes more a member of a unit than leader. And a stellar unit it is. There is a lot of creative thinking going on throughout this session. Each member has a history of moving in and out of both avant garde, free jazz, chamber and straight ahead circles. On their debut as Cylinder it all melds into one of the best sessions you'll experience all year. It's not because it's built on a Free Jazz motif, it's more because of the effectiveness of the performances and concepts within each piece.

You can hear shades of Ornette Coleman or Don Cherry throughout, but the group really doesn't rely on history. In fact, they might be shaping it (if this is an ongoing quartet). While this is a group effort, each member does have opportunity to express themselves on selected pieces. "The Ear That Was Sold To A Fish" opens with a lovely duel phrasing from Shelton and Johnston. Johnston, who has worked in the avant garde arena for years (on both sides of the Atlantic) works in the stratosphere with some beautiful lyrical notes.

A revelation for me was Lisa Mezzacappa, whom I've only known by name but hadn't investigated her music (until now), and I have to say I've really been missing out on an amazing bassist. She has this ability to hit the thick notes delicately and with poise and makes you really feel it. "Sung By Dogs" is one of those moments. The galloping rhythm laid out by Mezzacappa and Nordeson accompanying on the horns makes for a haunting yet rich piece with lots of intersections for the ear to latch on to.

The individual work of both drummer and bassist rises again on both "The Deep Disciplines" and "Crossings" where both share some nice crosscurrents early on and then the quartet regroups midway and runs through a set of improvised moment before catching a groove that is covered by Johnston and later Shelton's fierce sonic resonance. 

"Skipped Rocks" sees Shelton moving poetically on clarinet while his bandmates mingle and experiment with sound. "Skipped Rocks" isn't a track where you have to listen closely. The melody and theories take hold quickly (even for the uninitiated) and its beautiful. Cylinder closes on a more free form note than it began with "Earthworm" which weaves its way in and out with sublime work from Mezzacappa and Shelton. It's a piece that doesn't rise in tone so much as it elevates in texture and density. Cylinder seem to utilize the space around them and gives you a look inside the mind of a well focused quartet with a multitude of ideas.

While Cylinder may get headlines because of Aram Shelton, it really is a complete group with a swirl of theories and concepts that makes it one of the best future-forward bands on the scene right now. I really hope they record regularly. An excellent listen.