Deer Tick Emotional Contracts ATO Records Deer Tick’s first post-pandemic recording, Emotional Contracts (ATO), is produced by veteran Dave Fridmann, who has manned the console for the likes of Sleater-Kinney, The Flaming Lips, and Spoon. It retains many aspects of the sound Deer Tick has developed over the past two decades. A number of the songs are rousing rock anthems with a tinge of alt-country. “If I Try to Leave” falls into this category, but its lyrics chaff against the music’s uplifting demeanor, with the narrator asking how they would cope if they left their life, family and all,
Read moreTimothy Schwarz The Living American Albany Records Violinist Timothy Schwarz has commissioned, performed, and recorded a number of pieces by contemporary composers. His latest release on Albany, The Living American, is a collection of recent pieces by American composers. Schwarz takes a “melting pot” approach to his program. It opens with the solo Fantasy on Lama Badaa yatsana, written by Stephen Sametz, which explores alternate scales with frequent double-stops and harmonics alongside virtuosic melodic writing. Pianist Charles Abramovic joins Schwarz on a set of pieces by musical theater composer Joseph Goodrich. Indeed, C-minor Jam leans much closer
Read moreDanish String Quartet Prism V ECM Records This is the last outing in Danish String Quartet’s Prism series. Each of the five recordings has included a late Beethoven string quartet, a related Bach fugue, and a later work influenced by Beethoven. Prism V’s program begins with “Vor deinen Thron tret’ich,” Bach’s chorale prelude BWV 668, arranged for string quartet. It also includes “Contrapunctus 14” from Bach’s Art of Fugue, Anton Webern’s String Quartet (1905), and Beethoven’s String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135. The performance of the chorale prelude is beautiful, played with expressive tone and ardent phrasing,
Read moreAnnika Socolofsky Don’t Say a Word Latitude 49 New Amsterdam Records “This unapologetic profession of love and vulnerability is something I have felt denied all my life. And it’s time to reclaim it. These are love songs for the self. These are my feminist rager-lullabies for the new queer era.” – Annika Socolofsky Composer/vocalist Annika Socolofsky works out a great deal of anger on her New Amsterdam recording Don’t Say a Word. She has described herself growing up as a “queer kid” being ostracized. That treatment has subsequently inspired her to examine all sorts of othering in society,
Read moreDeerhoof Miracle-Level Joyful Noise Recordings At a certain point in their career, many rock bands dread the audience reaction to saying “we’re going to play the new single” from onstage. It suggests that their days of vital music-making have devolved into being among the ranks of nostalgia artists. Deerhoof’s experience is quite different. They keep changing and developing as a band, and their successive releases are acclaimed and eagerly listened to by longtime fans and new listeners alike. Several things distinguish Deerhoof’s latest Joyful Noise release, Miracle-Level, their nineteenth recording, the first released back in 1997. Improbably, this
Read moreChet Baker Blue Room: The 1979 Vara Studio Sessions in Holland Jazz Detective 2xCD A double CD (or limited edition vinyl, if you prefer) set of unreleased sessions from 1979 displays Chet Baker in fine form, both as a trumpeter and vocalist. These recordings were originally made at Vara Studio in Holland for Dutch radio broadcast. Baker is joined on Disc 1 by pianist Phil Markowitz, bassist Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, and drummer Charles Rice; the trio had been touring with him fairly regularly. They provide impeccable support. A particular standout is Rassinfosse, whose walking lines and soloing are creative contributions.
Read moreJames Ilgenfritz #entrainments Infrequent Seams Angelika Niescier, saxophone; Nathan Bontrager, cello; James Iglenfritz, bass; Gerry Hemingway, drums Ecstatic jazz/free improv bassist James Ilgenfritz underwent brain surgery just months before being back in the studio to record #entrainments, the fiftieth release on the Infrequent Seams label. The recording makes reference to this traumatic event in some of its titles, such as “#frontmatter” and “#scarequotes.” This is the first recording to employ Ilgenfritz’s modular improvisation system #entrainments, a term also reflecting the bassist’s work to repair his cognitive abilities. The body and brain have an extraordinary capacity to heal, especially
Read moreCecilia Smith The Mary Lou Williams Resurgence Project, Vol. 1: Small Ensemble Repertoire Cecilia Smith, vibraphone, Lafayette Harris, Jr. & Carlton Holmes (piano/organ), Kenny Davis (bass), Ron Savage (drums), Carla Cook (vocals) Self-released Mary Lou Williams was an extraordinarily gifted jazz pianist and composer, particularly prominent during the Swing band era, but also rightly held in esteem for her late modern jazz work “Zodiac Suite.” Among her accomplishments, she played with Benny Goodman and arranged for Duke Ellington. Vibraphonist Cecilia Smith has decided to commemorate her legacy with the recording The Mary Lou Williams Resurgence Project, Vol. 1: Small
Read moreDominic Miller Vagabond Dominic Miller, guitar; Jacob Karlzon, piano, keyboard; Nicolas Fiszman, bass; Ziv Ravitz, drums ECM Records Vagabond is guitarist Dominic Miller’s third recording for ECM Records. Apart from bassist Nicolas Fiszman, Miller has assembled a new group of collaborators: keyboardist Jacob Karlzon and drummer Ziv Ravitz join him in a quartet setting. Miller composed most of Vagabond’s eight originals while living in the South of France. He has suggested that nature and the small towns and buildings he passes on long walks supply him with inspiration. The guitarist’s Argentinian roots may be a bit further out of
Read moreWila Frank Black Cloud Tone Tree Music Singer-songwriter Wila Frank’s debut LP Black Cloud defies the expectations of a Music City artist. Like a number of musicians who have moved to Nashville in the wake of the city’s big boom, Frank isn’t a country artist. Her work hews closer to indie rock, with fetching quirks that make it distinctive. For instance, there is a repeated sharp fourth that gives the progression in “Oh Fate” an unconventional tinge. Frank’s singing sometimes adopts a disaffected, even laconic, tone, which makes the soaring climaxes of songs such as “Fire” even more
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