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Underground, Underground
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CD 2101
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Paul Dunmall Quartet
Paul Dunmall saxophone, Howard Cottle saxophone,
Olie Brice bass, Tony Bianco drums.
Paul Dunmall’s trilogy* previously released on SLAM left no doubt of Dunmall’s dedication to Coltrane’s music. He writes:
‘Coltrane's music still has such a powerful impact on all musicians even today, 50 odd years later. I will certainly never tire of it. You can hear his influence all through "Underground Underground"’
This time the music is composed by Dunmall, inspired by Coltrane ~ specifically by the Coltrane classic album ‘Sunship’
*SLAMCD 290 ‘Thank You to John Coltrane’
SLAMCD 292 ‘Tribute to Coltrane’
SLAMCD 296 ‘Homage to Coltrane’
Also available through all digital outlets, including: Amazon.co.uk https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LZXXLV8 iTunes https://geo.itunes.apple.com/gb/album/underground-underground/id1158895602 eMusic http://www.emusic.com/album/paul-dunmall-quartet/underground-underground/16997480/ Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/1AWDIzQwVMiXWjXEKI2h1m
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Underground,Underground
Catalogue Number SLAMCD 2101 Barcode 50 28386 63452 2
leader paul dunmall
paul dunmall saxophone
howard cottle saxophone
olie brice bass
tony bianco drums
tracks
1 underground underground 11.36
2 the inner silence was too loud 10.34
3 sunup 14.05
4 timberwolf 17.16
5 hear no evil, play no evil 4.38
6 sacred chant 7.52
paul dunmall composer of all tracks
recording details
21/7/2015 sacred studios uk
recorded/mastered by chris trent
artwork by andy isham.
As I played Underground Underground several times by now, I believe my conclusion after a first listen still stands : Paul surpassed himself and I firmly believe this is not only the album of the year but it is the album of the decade ! Danny Mathys
Between 2011 and 2013, Paul Dunmall (tenor saxophone) and Tony Bianco (drums) recorded three albums as a testament to the inspirational playing, compositions and spirit of John Coltrane, all on the SLAM Productions label -- Thank You to John Coltrane, Tribute to Coltrane and Homage to John Coltrane. In 2015, Dunmall and Bianco were joined by Howard Cottle (tenor saxophone) and Olie Brice (double bass) in two performances which celebrated Coltrane’s Sun Ship (Impulse!, 1971), one of the last recordings of the Classic Quartet, from 1965, and an album which had a seminal impact on Dunmall in his youth. When it came to go into the studio however, rather than record another Coltrane tribute, he decided "to write some heads in the same vein as Sun Ship so we could still capture that intensity, and play with that Coltrane spirit, but make it our own thing". Underground Underground -- all first takes – is the result. In this setting, it’s usual to deploy saxophones of different registers for variety and to avoid the saxophonists treading on each other’s toes. Not so here. Rather than adjoining areas, the two tenors occupy the same space, and like Phaeton’s burning chariot, it makes for an exhilarating ride, "With flaming breath that all the heaven might hear them perfectly". The heads are often simple figures, such as the title track’s clarion call sounded out on overlapping saxes, and the ardent, jabbing phrases of ‘Sun Up’. As one would expect, the prevailing tone is ecstatic and jubilant, executed at a high-voltage pace, hectic yet never out of control, with Dunmall and Cottle animating phrases until they achieve a molten volatility. Over the whole album, they’re driven by and draw on the kinetic buoyancy of Bianco’s drums and Brice’s taut, gutsy bass. And when the saxophones do play together, it never feels cramped. In "Timberwolf’, the longest track, there’s a passage of jointly sustained virtuosity in which they embrace and blossom, taking the theme to the brink. There’s also intensity of a different kind. ‘Hear no Evil, Play no Evil’ is a ballad, whose yearning melody is beautifully set-off by Brice’s agile bass line. The solos have that Coltrane-esque mix of exaltation with tinges of remorse. ‘Sacred Chant’ is the closing number, with Cottle and Bianco engaged in a fiery duet before, by way of contrast, a stately theme is introduced by Dunmall. The impassioned and the dignified continue in opposition until the whole band is sucked into the whirlpool, but the melody never completely goes away, and eventually is affirmed in noble unison, repeated until the fade. Coltrane’s music-making was so rich that, even now, just when you think you’ve pinned him down, there’s something more to be found. This album is a fitting tribute to that inexhaustible body of work and the continuing inspiration it provides.
Colin Green http://www.freejazzblog.org/ 31/1 2017.
This is a very exciting small band free jazz album with Paul Dunmall and Howard Cottle on tenor saxophones, Olie Brice on bass and Tony Bianco on drums. Dunmall and Bianco have created a series of stellar John Coltrane tributes over the past few years and this album expands on that idea as this time the music is composed by Dunmall, though inspired by Coltrane, specifically his posthumously released Sunship LP. "Underground Underground" opens the album with storming full throttle music, with deep throaty saxophones in full gear rolling over torrential bass and drums. Two saxophones raise the intensity to hair raising levels with squalls of bass and drumming keeping pace. Swirls of noise and bursts of drums, move to a thrilling over the top conclusion that is stunning its power. They come out of the gate storming at full throttle on "The Inner Silence Was Too Loud" with deep guttural saxophones in full gear roaring over torrential drumming which blooms into a full rich sound. Raw peals of sound with a diamond hard tone, and a foundation of bass and drums all working in consort, developing shadows and light. Soloists shift from one saxophone to another, each with unique tones feeding a dark reverie and pushing forth. "Sunup" keeps the pressure on, with the two saxophones plus bass and drums developing a sound that belies the quartet format. The bass and drums ripple in a muscular fashion, supporting the saxophones which stalk the music like predators at the top of the food chain. There is a collective blowout with all instruments at maximum and then making way for a rattling drum solo. After the epic drum solo, the group displays amazing stamina which builds to a massive brawl of noise and excitement and collective caterwauling. The epic performance "Timberwolf" begins with a taut bass solo, which is eventually met by blasts of scalding saxophone roaring across the musical landscape. There are sharp needles of sound pushing forth waves of energy. The saxophones become intertwined above the roiling drums. The music is very exciting but nearly exhausting in its unrelenting power. This was a very successful album which takes the lessons that John Coltrane taught in the min-1960’s and brings them into the present moment with great vigor. Fans of dynamic free jazz will be very satisfied with this album.
Tim Niland http://jazzandblues.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/paul-dunmall-quartet-underground.html
This is a very exciting small band free jazz album with Paul Dunmall and Howard Cottle on tenor saxophones, Olie Brice on bass and Tony Bianco on drums. Dunmall and Bianco have created a series of stellar John Coltrane tributes over the past few years and this album expands on that idea as this time the music is composed by Dunmall, though inspired by Coltrane, specifically his posthumously released Sunship LP. "Underground Underground" opens the album with storming full throttle music, with deep throaty saxophones in full gear rolling over torrential bass and drums. Two saxophones raise the intensity to hair raising levels with squalls of bass and drumming keeping pace. Swirls of noise and bursts of drums, move to a thrilling over the top conclusion that is stunning its power. They come out of the gate storming at full throttle on "The Inner Silence Was Too Loud" with deep guttural saxophones in full gear roaring over torrential drumming which blooms into a full rich sound. Raw peals of sound with a diamond hard tone, and a foundation of bass and drums all working in consort, developing shadows and light. Soloists shift from one saxophone to another, each with unique tones feeding a dark reverie and pushing forth. "Sunup" keeps the pressure on, with the two saxophones plus bass and drums developing a sound that belies the quartet format. The bass and drums ripple in a muscular fashion, supporting the saxophones which stalk the music like predators at the top of the food chain. There is a collective blowout with all instruments at maximum and then making way for a rattling drum solo. After the epic drum solo, the group displays amazing stamina which builds to a massive brawl of noise and excitement and collective caterwauling. The epic performance "Timberwolf" begins with a taut bass solo, which is eventually met by blasts of scalding saxophone roaring across the musical landscape. There are sharp needles of sound pushing forth waves of energy. The saxophones become intertwined above the roiling drums. The music is very exciting but nearly exhausting in its unrelenting power. This was a very successful album which takes the lessons that John Coltrane taught in the min-1960’s and brings them into the present moment with great vigor. Fans of dynamic free jazz will be very satisfied with this album.
Tim Niland http://jazzandblues.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/paul-dunmall-quartet-underground.html
Talk about going for it. From the off, this two-tenor foursome pitches straight into some fierce free expression. Devil take the hindmost except there is nobody left trailing behind andf drummer Bianco maintains a clattering conversation – although the bass is somewhat overwhelmed. The first title track features repetitive figures by the saxists which are hammered out, reshaped and then re-examined with little in the way of development. Bassist Brice finally gets heard in a long track entitled Timberwolf with an extended solo before Cotter and then Dunmall resume their wrestling match and take their saxophones to ear-torturing lengths until the piece ends in a rich semblance of harmony, further explored in Hear No Evil Play No Evil. Not for the faint-hearted, but with moments of undeniable passion, inspired by John Coltrane.
Anthony Troon Jazz Journal January 2107
History, even history of the arts, assigns the most space to any area’s best-known practitioners. Others are almost ignored, even if some of their work is on the same level or even surpasses that of their preeminent colleagues. Improvised music is no exception. Which is a long-winded way of asking why isn’t tenor saxophonist Howard Cottle better known? Equivalent to visual artists who labored in the shadows of Picasso, Dali and others, but who produced work that measured favorably with theirs, Cottle goes mano a mano with tenor saxophonist Paul Dunmall and doesn’t suffer in comparison.
Cottle, who has been a member of Dunmall’s Moksha Big Band as well as Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath and The Jazz Warriors, introduces his notes from the underground in such a way that this session’s six tracks careen from Free Bop to Free Jazz to Free Music. Dunmall, who composed all the tunes, had the John Coltrane-Pharoah Sanders sessions as model, but with Cottle’s input the tenor conclave includes memories of Johnny Griffin-Eddie Lockjaw Davis or Gene Ammons and Sony Stitt.
Ferocious intensity is the best description of the Blitzkrieg-like mode of sonic attacks from the two saxophonists. But like members of a winning sports team who provide ancillary tasks needed for success, the reedists’ progression would be impossible without the skills of bassist Olie Brice and drummer Tony Bianco., Londoner Brice moves between Jazz and Free Music alongside the likes of saxophonist Tobias Delius and pianist Achim Kaufmann, while Bianco, a transplanted American, worked with saxophonist Elton Dean and in a Coltrane-saluting duo with Dunmall. Best known for his membership in Mujician, Dunmall is one of the UK’s most accomplished saxophonists, comfortable in many idioms.
From the get-go the four appear perfectly balanced, with Brice setting the pace with walking thumps, Bianco adding every manner of cymbal and drum accents and the two tenors producing phrasing that range from corybantic to calm, with frequent excursions into glossolalia and altissimo. Sometimes the reedists’ playing is separate, sometimes it’s harmonized and sometimes it’s in double counterpoint. Put back to back distinguishing one from another is difficult even when the solo order is indicated, since one saxophonist is usually playing obbligato to the other. A track such as "Sun Up" for instance, ends a volatile reed excursion into the stratosphere with virtuosic asides of slurps and smears, with the two exiting in lockstep as if they were a music hall dance duo. Even Cottle’s own feature "Sacred Chant", where he outputs timbres with arpeggio affirmations and lower-pitched slurs Dunmall is still right behind him like a concerned parent unable to let his child go. By the finale though, Cottle works his tone ever upwards, so that in the penultimate phrases, it coalesce into a magisterial reed display.
This contrast between august and abstract, which also affected Trane’s latter work, is the leitmotif of most of the performances here as well. Most telling is the extended "Timberwolf", which begins with swelling Mingus-like pumps from Brice and encompasses back-and-form vamps that bring in timbres reflecting mellow lyricism in the centre and by the finale has more textures crammed into a line than would spill from an overactive beer tap. Spraying foaming textures from the horns the climax moves both horns past Coltrane, Sanders and even Ayler into pure abstraction.
A prime specimen of what used to be called Ecstatic Jazz; the figure who most deserves to rise from this Underground Underground is Cottle.
Ken Waxman http://www.jazzword.com/one-review/?id=129239 17/01/2017
Hot, fast, joyously violent music – a celebration. Paul Dunmall is a grand tenor saxophonist who, at his best, improvises very long, energetic works that are as eventful as, but more concentrated than, movements of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies. In the six pieces on this album, though, he shares equal time with fellow tenorist Howard Cottle, so his solos are necessarily less long and grand. The post-Ayler bigness, the authority of Dunmall’s sound and attack, in solo and in two-tenor duo improvisations, are sure-enough grabbers. He likes to build solos from theme elements into lines that move without decoration or digression. His fast phrases are often long, many-noted, and there’s a classic-tenor intrigue about his twists and turns. You can hear aspects of Ayler in Dunmall’s thematic-improv. method and in occasional, usually brief turns to multiphonics and overtone hollers. But Dunmall is a step beyond.
Dunmall conceived this CD as a two-tenor tribute to John Coltrane’s Sunship, but Cottle is the more Coltrane-influenced one here. Cottle has the big sound – not, perhaps, as big as Dunmall’s – and speed and high energy and overtone screams. "The Inner Silence Was Too Loud" begins with the fine bassist, Olie Brice, and drummer, Tony Bianco, asserting a perfect-for-swinging medium-up tempo that soloist Cottle’s energy quickly savages. If I remember rightly, Max Harrison once wrote something like this: A potential pitfall of free improvisation is a human tendency for habits – habits, first of all, of nerves, muscles – to take over and fingers and breath to fall in recurring patterns. Too often Cottle returns to repeated material, especially even-length screams and a fast four-note lick, from solo to solo. The many improvised duets delight, with Cottle’s less-mobile lines against Dunmall’s flights.
The free accompaniment of Brice and Bianco is ideal. The bassist begins "Timberwolf" with musings in big, stern, rubato tones that, after the theme, become lower, busier, very serious. The liberated Bianco also gets a solo in "Sun Up," tomes vs. a snare with cymbal commentary. The foreground of the rest of the CD is the two tenors enjoying each other.
–John Litweiler http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD57/PoD57MoreMoments2.html
Tenor saxist Paul Dunmall teams up with fellow tenorist Howard Cottle and a rhythm team of Olie Brice/b and Tony Bianco/dr for six extroverted originals that give tribute to late period Coltrane, circa Sunship. Both Dunmall and Cottle have full-throated tones, taking turns on the big sounding and aggressive "The Inner Silence Was Too Loud" and frantic title track. Bianco stirs things up while the tenors twirl on "Sacred Chant" and stretches out a bit while the tenors go through Wagnerian shouts on "Sun Up." Brice’s bass creates a mood before the reeds come shrieking in during "Timberwolf," so everyone has a moment in the Sun, ship that is. A feast for Coltrane fans.
George W. Harris • October 31, 2016
http://www.jazzweekly.com
Underground Slam CD2101. Paul Dunmall, Howard Cottle (ts), Olie Brice (b) and Tony Bianco (d). Rec 21 July 2015
Saxophonist Paul Dunmall continues his homage to John Coltrane with a lively set of six originals inspired by Coltrane’s album Sun Ship, the penultimate recording by the saxophonist’s classic quartet. By that time, Coltrane was exploring the phonics and fury of a new generation, which made the role of McCoy Tyner on piano somewhat problematic. Dunmall’s response is to replace the piano with like-minded tenor saxophonist Howard Cottle on the frontline. And with drummer Tony Bianco mirroring the ‘call to arms’ breaks of a Sonny Murray or Rashied Ali, the album is a bit of a free jazz tenor sax joust in which Dunmall’s rounder sound and greater emotional depth come out on top. The title track, ‘Sun Up’, a feature for drummer Bianco, and ‘Sacred Chant’, the album closer,.use short stubby themes to launch high energy ‘up-and-at-‘em’ solos, best heard with the volume turned up,. Bassist Olie Brice’s melodic counterpoint stands out, and the rhythm section sustains good energy levels and powerful pulse. The remaining tracks celebrate Coltrane’s elegiac side with spiritual themes and emotionally-charged balladry, though at times Coltrane’s lyricism gets lost. Perhaps this is why one track is called ‘The Inner Silence was Too Loud’. The exception is Brice’s singing bass introduction to ‘Timberwolf’, and ‘Hear No Evil, Play No Evil’, a floaty ballad which moves away from the Coltrane aesthetic. Mike Hobart Jazzwise October 2016.
There is nothing matter-of-fact about PAUL DUNMALL’s playing as more often than not there is a ferocious immediacy to it. One of the most frequently recorded leaders of the past 25 years, it would seem hardly a month goes by when he is not recording. An unabashed admirer of Coltrane, 3 of his Coltrane tributes were covered in the Oct-Dec 2015 Papatamus, his playing is torturous and unrelenting. Dunmall’s latest, UNDERGROUND UNDERGROUND [SLAMCD 2101] is inspired by Coltrane’s "Sunship". The 6 originals [66:05] were recorded 7/21/15 with Dunmall’s long time drummer, Tony Bianco, sometime associate Howard Cottle [ts] and new associate Olie Brice [b]. To give you an idea of Cottle’s playing Slam has listed the order of which tenor man is playing when. If you enjoy balls-to-the-wall tenor playing you may like this twice as much. It is wonderful and exhausts me. Choose yer poison. Robert D Rusch, Cadence Oct 2016
PAUL DUNMALL QUARTET With HOWARD COTTLE / OLIE BRICE / TONY BIANCO - Underground Underground (Slam 2101; UK) Featuring Paul Dunmall & Howard Cottle on tenor saxes, Olie Brice on acoustic bass and Tony Bianco on drums. Paul Dunmall put this quartet together to do a tribute to ’Sunship’, one of Dunmall’s favorite albums by the John Coltrane Quartet. This quartet features two tenors, bass & drums instead of the usual Trane configuration: sax/piano/bass/drums. Mr. Dunmall has selected an impressive crew: the previously little known (to me), except for a couple of Dunmall octet & orchestra CDs. Howard Cottle on tenor, Olie Brice on bass (worked with Tobias Delius, Ingrid Laubrock & Waclaw Zimpel), and longtime Dunmall partner, Tony Bianco on drums. Dunmall and Bianco have already recorded several Coltrane duo discs. All of the music here was written by Mr. Dunmall and is in the spirit of the ’Sunship’ album. The title track is first and erupts like a massive hurricane with an explosive Trane-like tenor solo from Mr. Dunmall, the quartet: tight, powerful and filled with cosmic spirits. Mr. Cottle also takes an impressive solo and he captures that intense, rip-roaring eruption as well. Both tenors sound wonderful together, tight and spinning in circular waves. "The Inner Silence was Way Too Loud", simmers with sublime slow-burning energy, the rich harmonies for both saxes provide a swell hypnotic, head-nodding groove. Mr. Cottle takes a strong solo with the rhythm team stirring up the turbulent waters around them. The ever resourceful Tony Bianco is in fine form here, sounding like the amazing Elvin Jones at times as plays in a similar circular way. What is amazing about this disc is how well it does capture that Trane Quartet spirit without sounding too much like them. Having a difficult day? Stressed out by the barrage of bad news from the Daily KOS? If you need some positive inspiration, then you need some of this cosmic medicine: reach for this disc and let it rip! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-gb/suite
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