|
The BIG Sax CD
|
|
|
CD 406
£
10.00 inc VAT
|
|
Add to Shopping Basket
|
|
A new compilation of contemporary baritone saxophonists from around the world. Carlo Actis Dato, Italy, Charles Evans, USA, George Haslam, UK, Mikko Innanen, Finland, Sergey Letov, Russia and Javier Zalba, Cuba. 18 original tracks of amazingly different artistic approaches to creation on the big sax.
This CD is also available by digital download:
|
|
Details
Reviews
|
SLAMCD 406
Title – "The BIG sax CD."
Artist: Compilation Carlo Actis Dato
Track 1 Anatra 2:56
Track 2 Tasso 5:11
Track 3 Fenice 1:25
Track 4 Due Bisonti 1:23
Track 5 Talpa 2:30
All five solo tracks composed in improvisation by Carlo and recorded by him at his home base in Mazzè, Italy, 1 September 2008. Charles Evans
Track 6 What 2:00
with Peter Evans trumpet, Moppa Elliott bass and Jan Roth drums.
Track 7 On Tone Yet Part I (Mover's Mood for Annie) 4:40
with Neil Shah, piano
Track 8 On Tone Yet Part II 3:38
Track 9 Micropterus Salmoides 2:35
All 4 tracks composed by Charles. Track 6 was recorded in Astoria, New York USA, 6 May 2005 by Brian "Hoppel" Woestehoff. Track 7 in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 2 July 2007 by Neil Shah. Tracks 8 and 9 also in Astoria, New York, USA, by Charles Evans on 3 June 2007 and 4 August 2008 respectively. Track 6 is from his CD "No Relation" Greatbend Records GBCD02. Track 8 is from his CD "King of all Instruments" Hot Cup Records HotCup 084.
George Haslam
Track 10 Viejo Lobo 3:41 Solo
Track 11 El Puntanito 11:09 with Roi Maciaz piano
Track 12 Thinking Allowed 4:19 with Stefano Pastor violin.
Track 10 was composed by George and recorded at Estudio Puntano, San Luis, Argentina, 25 October 2008 by Roi Maciaz. Track 11 comes from the same session, composed by Haslam and Maciaz. Track 12 composed by Haslam and Pastor, recorded by Stefano at Villa Parodi, Genoa, Italy, 31 July 2008. Mikko Innanen Track 13 Adler 3:28 Track 14 Phönix 2:18 Track 15 Merkur 5:52 Track 13 composed by Mikko Innanen, 14 and 15 by Mikko Innanen & Mika Kallio. Three originals from a session by Mikko Innanen and drummer Mika Kallio, recorded in January 2008 at Musapaja, Kuusankoski, Finland by Esa Kotilainen. Sergey Letov Track 16 Semipalatinsk 6:31 with Yury Parfenov - trumpet Track 17 LeBorRa 8.32 with Alexei Borisov - electronics, mixing, Rada Anchevskaya – vocal Track 16 recorded live at Ilkhom Theatre, Tashkent, Uzbekistan 19 May 2006 by Sergey Letov. Track 17 at "Park Pobedy" Studio, Moscow, Russia, 4 January 2007 by Vladimir Anchevsky. Javier Zalba
Track 18 Como Fué 2:09 Zalba’s unaccompanied solo on Ernesto Duarte’s Cuban standard
recorded 11 February 2009 in Estudio Lucero, Havana by Lucia Huergo
and Niurka Sánchez.
The Big Sax CD is a useful compilation of practitioners from around the world, including Italy, the US, UK, Finland, Russia and Cuba. Solo performance seems to be the essence of baritone playing and the majority of tracks (ranging one to five per artist) are just that, with the remainder adding an accompanist (piano, violin, drums, trumpet, electronics) to form various combinations. Only American Charles Evans is represented in a (pianoless) quartet and Brit George Haslam makes the central statement with pianist Roi Maciaz on "El Puntanito". But the most offbeat and compelling offering comes from Russia’s Sergey Letov, who layers vocals and electronic effects over his sax to show what can move the baritone into jazz’ 2nd century. AAJ-NY June 2009, Jeff Stockton http://www.allaboutjazz.com/newyork/aaj_ny_200906.pdf
One won't find any tenors, altos, or sopranos on The Big Sax CD. Of the half-dozen musicians spotlighted here on the baritone saxophone, Carlo Actis Dato is without a doubt the best known. A multi-reedist whose sounds have been heard on over fifty releases he is caught here at his home base performing five pieces "composed in improvisation" on the horn. He attacks the beast ferociously and a couple of his melodies wind up sounding like Italian folk dances. Cadence readers may be aware of the American reedman Charles Evans, since several of his discs on the Hotcup label have been covered in these pages. Like Carlo Actis Dato, all of the numbers heard here are composed by the leader. The lead-off track, "What," is a nicely swinging FreeBop line with trumpet, bass, and drums while his duet with pianist Shah finds him exploring the upper reaches of his horn. There is a nice quote from Dave Liebman extolling his virtues in the liner booklet. Inside those pages, Englishman George Haslam is described as "a veteran world traveler" and included are his three cuts in solo and in duet with piano and violin in Argentina and Italy respectively. Finnish multi-instrumentalist Mikko Innanen is probably best known for his work with Triot, the pianoless trio that began in the late nineties. Here we find him in duet with longtime associate drummer Mika Kallio; their affiliation dates back to 1996. The depth of their interplay on three sketches attests to their simpatico relationship. "Semipalatinsk" is a live recording by Russian baritonist Sergey Letov and trumpeter Yury Parfenov at Ilkhorn Theatre. The horn man explains in his notes, "Semipalatinsk" is named after his home town in Eastern Kazakhstan and was the site of Soviet nuclear testing similar to the Nevada desert in the USA. The other cut is a studio session with mixmaster Borisov and wordless vocalist Rada Anchevskaya. Personally I could have done without the electronics which tend to obscure the sax. The final selection is by Cuban Javier Zalba who is a veteran band member in Havana and perhaps the most lyrical of all the saxophonists heard. His unaccompanied solo is on Ernesto Duarte's Cuban standard "Como Fue." Picture in your mind an imaginary conversation between Serge Chaloff and Nick Brignola. Chaloff questions, "What was that sound I just heard?" to which Brignola replies, "Oh, that was just Harry Carney nodding his head." Larry Hollis, Cadence, Jan/Mar. 2010. ©Cadence Magazine 2010 http://www.cadencebuilding.com/
Libero Farnè http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=4400
Questo disco vuole raccogliere alcuni validi contributi contemporanei nell'utilizzo del sax baritono, senza pretendere di essere esaustivo o di proporre "il meglio di...": un'antologia insolita con apici indubbiamente sorprendenti e parti più risapute.
Carlo Actis Dato è il protagonista dei primi cinque brani, registrati in solitudine il primo settembre 2008 nella sua abitazione di Mazzè. Si tratta di una serie di bozzetti prevalentemente sintetici e carichi di ironia, in cui emergono la sua vena pseudo-folk e la sua pronuncia sporca e grufolante, che fa largo uso della respirazione circolare e di armonici. Non sempre però la verve graffiante e la convinzione raggiungono i livelli a cui il sassofonista torinese ci ha abituati.
I quattro brani dello statunitense Charles Evans, registrati fra il 2005 e il 2008, tracciano un percorso variegato. "What," interpretato da un quartetto completato da Peter Evans alla tromba, Moppa Elliott al contrabbasso e Jan Roth alla batteria, propone un free jazz dinamico e scattante, mentre in "On Tone Yet Part I," in duo col pianista Neil Shah, gli impasti e le cadenze si fanno più pacate, concretizzando quasi un astratto neo-cool. Nei rimanenti due brani Evans, in solitudine, mette a punto un linguaggio più sperimentale, fatto di lunghe pause e di una sonorità pulita che a volte si avvicina a quella del fagotto.
Anche il britannico George Haslam, factotum dell'etichetta, presenta differenti aspetti del suo mondo sassofonistico. Il free meditabondo, equilibrato della solo improvisation "Viejo Lobo" lascia il posto ad un free più acceso e aspro in "El Puntanito," in duo con il pianista Roi Maciaz. L'atmosfera torna ed essere più rarefatta in "Thinking Allowed," che è il brano più sorprendente per il contributo di Stefano Pastor al violino, la cui originalissima qualità sonora prende quasi intonazioni flautate.
Anche grazie all'apporto del notevole percussionista Mika Kallio, il finlandese Mikko Innanen innesca un'improvvisazione asciutta, dalle cadenze staccate e nervose, che divengono relativamente più leggiadre e dondolanti in "Phönix," più corpose e densamente free in "Merkur".
Interessante e suggestivo, anche perché più degli altri protagonisti travalica la matrice jazzistica free, è il russo Sergey Letov. All'inizio di "Semipalatinsk" il suo baritono produce un bordone scandito da note puntate, mentre in primo piano si muove la tromba di Yury Perfenov, dal fraseggio mobile e melodico. In "LeBorRa" invece l'eloquio di Letov disegna una linea melodico-ritmica reiterata e incantatoria, assecondato dall'elettronica di Alexei Borisov e dalla voce di Rada Anchevskaya.
L'ultimo brano, breve, in solo, registrato nel febbraio 2009, vede il veterano cubano Javier Zalba reinterpretare la melodia di una sorta di standard cubano scritto da Ernesto Duarte. Per il sound morbido e caldo, per la cadenza rilassata, Zalba risulta essere il più "classico" dei sei autori assemblati in questo CD.
Visita i siti di Carlo Actis Dato, Charles Evans, George Haslam, Mikko Innanen, Sergey Letov e Javier Zelba.
ARTISTES VARIÉS-VARIOUS ARTISTS / The BIG Sax CD (Slam Productions) Derrière ce titre se cache une compilations d’improvisations au saxophone baryton. Au menu: l’Italien Carlo Actis Dato, l’Américain Charles Evans, le Britannique George Haslam, le Finlandais Mikko Innanen, le Russe Sergey Letov et le Cubain Javier Zalba. Je suis un fan fini de Dato et je connaissais bien Haslam, mais j’ai eu l’occasion de découvrir d’autres très bons souffleurs. Bon équilibre entre solos et pièces avec accompagnement, ainsi qu’entre approches jazz et plus "free". Behind this title hides a compilation of baritone saxophone improvisations. The program includes Carlo Actis Dato (Italy), Charles Evan (USA), George Haslam (UK), Mikko Innanen (Finland), Sergey Letov (Russia), and Javier Zalba (Cuba). I am already an unconditional fan of Dato and I know Haslam’s work pretty well, but this CD gave the opportunity to hear more good blowers. The album includes several tracks from each saxman, and offers a nice balance between solos and accompanied pieces, and between jazzier takes and free playing. F Couture Delire Musical May 2009.
|
|
