#steveholtje

[matwalerian]

Tel Aviv, Israel - Third Ear Jazz - review - Okuden | Walerian Shipp Parker Drake.

"Mat Walerian, who has already become the home project of the iconic New York label... in this recording, Walerian's sound also rises to the league of the greats."

This album has a strange title, the music is true...

The collaboration of Brooklyn saxophonist Mat Walerian, who has already become home project of the iconic New York label - ESP Disk ' - with who would later be the best rhythm section in the world, the avant-garde jazz anchors, William Parker and Hamid Drake, and the brilliant pianist Matthew Shipp, who is simply amazing here.

The sound, the being, the music, the constant search below the surface, the daring, the silence and the madness, are all there.

It seems that in this recording, Walerian's sound also rises to the league of the greats.

Of those things that do not leave much room for wonder, music that takes place in the here and now.

The sound of silence?

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #okuden #okudenquartet #matwalerian #matthewshipp #williamparker #hamiddrake #espdisk #steveholtje #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #onthefront #telaviv #thirdearjazz #israel

[micklewis]

@TenriTCI Bulgarian pianist @TaniaStavreva celebrated her birthday w/ a beautiful piano recital program that included her own compositions, a set of pieces by @BigTakeoverMag scribe @Steve_Holtje (who was in the audience), and some Erik Satie, before a reception with German chocolate cake, Bulgarian wine, and a traditional birthday song. Happy birthday, Tania! 🙂🎶 Setlist included: #RhythmicMovement (Satreva) #GymnopedieNo1 (Holtje; for Erik Satie) #GymnopedieNo2 (Holtje; for Bill Evans) #GymnopedieNo3 (Holtje) #GnossienneNo2 (Satie) #GoodMusic #NYC #TaniaStavreva #SteveHoltje #ErikSatie #piano #PianoRecital (at Tenri Cultural Institute) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq8_SRzFpD6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15xcwjjk5clya

#rhythmicmovement #gymnopedieno1 #gymnopedieno2 #gymnopedieno3 #gnossienneno2 #goodmusic #nyc #taniastavreva #steveholtje #eriksatie #piano #pianorecital

[matwalerian]

Boston, MA - The Arts Fuse - review - Okuden | Walerian Shipp Parker Drake - by Michael Ullman

"...Notable because of its superstar line-up... Walerian’s horns are a haunting presence - they seem to be calling from some tucked-away space... It also proffers a wonderful way to demonstrate to doubters that free jazz isn’t all sound and fury..."

Mat Walerian, who plays clarinets and flute as well as tenor, proclaims himself to be a mostly self-taught instrumentalist — though he admits he has studied with Shipp, with whom he collaborates. Besides having the longest album title I can remember, his two-disc set Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat is Getting Fatter is notable because of its superstar line-up, with includes the always estimable William Parker on bass, Shipp on piano, and Hamid Drake on percussion. They call themselves the Okuden Quartet.

The recording begins peaceably enough with “The Forest Council.” This forest is eerily quiet for most of the time. Walerian’s horns are a haunting presence — they seem to be calling from some tucked-away space (behind a tree?).

The tune begins, though, with Parker’s powerful solo: he’s a wonder throughout, serving up an apposite forcefulness. Walerian (on bass clarinet) and Shipp enter after a minute and a half with the pianist contributing out of tempo chords and Walerian huskily sounding off in the background.

Although Walerian is the titular leader, this group seems to be more of a cooperative. Despite the waggishness of its theme, “Thelonious Forever” does not openly reflect Monk’s music: it is a series of duets between Shipp and Walerian and later an encounter between Shipp and Parker. The latter is aptly at the heart of “Business with William.”

The two-disc set ends with “Lesson II,” whose silences are as impressive as the subdued notes Parker and Shipp emit at the beginning of the tune. Every Dog is full of riches: it also proffers a wonderful way to demonstrate to doubters that free jazz isn’t all sound and fury.

read full review here :

https://artsfuse.org/215541/jazz-album-reviews-matthew-shipp-a-splendidly-many-sided-pianist

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #okuden #okudenquartet #matwalerian #matthewshipp #williamparker #hamiddrake #espdisk #steveholtje #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #onthefront #theartsfuse #boston #michaelullman

[matwalerian]

Seattle, WA - Hollow Earth Radio KHUH 104.9 FM - Radio Eclectus hosted by Michael Schell presenting Okuden Quartet with Mat Walerian Matthew Shipp William Parker Hamid Drake.

Radical new music from the Northwest and beyond. Morton Feldman, Toru Takemitsu birthday celebration and Okuden Quartet among others. Thank you Michael Schell !

This week Radio Eclectus honors the 90th birthday of Toru Takemitsu (1930–1996) with a focus on new recordings and old rarities: things you probably haven’t heard before which aren’t yet available online. We’ll also observe the 50th anniversary of The Viola in My Life—classic middle-period Feldman, traversing its four parts (each with different instrumentation) through four different recordings with four different soloists.

There’s plenty of new music too ... Zen improv from the Okuden Quartet (Mat Walerian, Matt Shipp, William Parker and Hamid Drake) ...

Playlist available here:

https://www.hollowearthradio.org/programs/131

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #okuden #okudenquartet #matwalerian #matthewshipp #williamparker #hamiddrake #espdisk #steveholtje #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #onthefront #seattle #seattleradio #hollowearthradio #radioeclectus #michaelschell

[matwalerian]

Stereogum - The Month In Jazz – Best of Jazz August 2020 - review - Okuden | Walerian Shipp Parker Drake - "Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter” - by Phil Freeman

"There are some young musicians taking up the mantle of the music and carrying it forward. One of them is Mat Walerian...

"His interests are fairly wide-ranging. Though he’s already made four albums for one of the most legendary labels in out jazz, and run his own festival, Walerian is barely getting started."

"With that attitude, we’ll likely be hearing from him for years."

Free jazz is often seen as an old man’s music; even players considered part of the new generation seem to be going gray. Pianist Matthew Shipp, for example, will turn 60 in December, and drummer Hamid Drake recently celebrated his 65th birthday. But there are some young musicians taking up the mantle of the music and carrying it forward. One of them is Polish multi-instrumentalist (he plays alto sax, flute, and various clarinets) Mat Walerian, currently living in Brooklyn. He’s connected with Shipp, Drake, and William Parker, and made four albums since 2012 for the ESP-Disk’ label (and appeared on one of the pianist’s releases, Sonic Fiction).

His interests are fairly wide-ranging. He likes electronic music as much as jazz, though that doesn’t show up on his records. He’s got a deep passion for Japanese culture and Eastern philosophy, and created the Okuden festival back in Poland; the name refers to “inner transmission” or “hidden teachings.” By email, he says that Okuden “was about being independent — on a much, much smaller scale but kind of same concept as the Vision Fest, presenting it from the musicians’ point of view. It is going to follow — don’t know if this or next year, but it will continue.”

His first release, The Uppercut, was a live duo from Okuden with Shipp, about whom he says via email, “We have similar taste in what we like — we have similar taste of humor — we listen to a lot of different kinds of music; we like disco, we like dancing, we like boxing and sport in general — we don’t like clowns — we both like electronic music like Aphex Twin. [I] was listening to Matthew’s music since the late ’90s … so this is kind of special [that I] started to work with Matthew in 2011.”

His second release, Jungle, was a trio date featuring Shipp and Drake; his third, Toxic, featured Shipp and William Parker, and no drummer; and his latest album, a two-CD set running nearly two hours and bearing the unwieldy title Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter, features all three of his chosen collaborators.

The meditative nature of his music is immediately audible in the first track, “The Forest Council”. Though he’s already made four albums for one of the most legendary labels in out jazz, and run his own festival, Walerian is barely getting started. He says, “I don’t feel like I’ve done much, despite the obvious matter being the fact of the people I work with — that makes me feel it makes sense doing music, so … I want to do more recordings, just that. [I’m on my] fourth album only, but it is consistent work as this is what I believe in — consistency — also I do not feel like expanding the circle of people I play with; I just want be able to work with the uncles more and more.” With that attitude, we’ll likely be hearing from him for years.

read full review here :

https://www.stereogum.com/2095364/the-month-in-jazz-august-2020/franchises/columns/ugly-beauty/

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #okuden #okudenquartet #matwalerian #matthewshipp #williamparker #hamiddrake #espdisk #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #onthefront #steveholtje #stereogum #philfreeman #bestofjazz

[matwalerian]

AllAboutJazz - magazine and website for jazz enthusiasts and industry professionals - review - Okuden | Walerian Shipp Parker Drake - "Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter” - by Karl Ackermann

"Every Dog Has Its Day... brings together some of the best improvisers in music today; it is Walerian's best work to date and one of the best releases of the year."

"Walerian has an inimitable style shaped by many influences but attributable to none in particular... Each of his albums has been critically acclaimed and Walerian's music is more intriguing with each successive release."

"Walerian's original music continues to incorporate elements of chamber, jazz masterworks and Asian scales, all while facing to leading-edge statements of improvised music."

A student of eastern philosophy and Japanese culture, reed player/composer Mat Walerian coined the Okuden series name from a Japanese word meaning "inner teachings." Walerian had studied piano at six and taught himself saxophone while in his teens. He expanded his self-taught regime to include clarinet and flute in 2008-9. Walerian has sporadically taken lessons from Matthew Shipp. His musical interests are broad and he had earlier played classical Japanese music, heavy metal, psychedelic, funk, and jazz. Walerian's original music continues to incorporate elements of chamber, jazz masterworks and Asian scales, all while facing to leading-edge statements of improvised music. On the double-CD Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn't Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter Walerian leads a quartet with Shipp, William Parker and Hamid Drake.

The saxophone quartet is a familiar setting for Shipp and Parker, permanent members of David S. Ware's seminal free jazz group. Drake too appeared on two tracks of Ware's Live In The World (Thirsty Ear, 2005). Each player has also worked with reed artist Daniel Carter. Walerian has an inimitable style shaped by many influences but attributable to none in particular.

Walerian composed the eight pieces on Every Dog Has Its Day..., each running into double digits in length, and the moods vary greatly across the two discs. "The Forest Council" opens the first disc with a portentous Parker solo. Walerian's bass clarinet adds another layer of sinister effects, which neither Shipp nor Drake diminish upon their later entrance. Shipp shares the front line with Walerian on "Thelonious Forever" which features a blistering solo from Drake. On "Magic World Pt. 1," clarinet conjures up the deep roots of the swing tradition, melded with an exploration of the instrument's complete range. The rhythm section's carefree and exuberant groove makes this mini-suite a thirty-eight-minute delight. The album's second disc feels less structured, particularly "Sir Denis" which vacillates wildly between melodies and free playing. Parker adds his shakuhachi (bamboo-flute) giving an exotic feel to "Lesson II," the dreamy, but off-kilter, seventeen-minute closer.

This is Walerian's fourth album as a leader on ESP-Disk. Each has included some configuration of these same artists: The Uppercut: Live At Okuden (2015), a duo with Shipp, Jungle: Live At Okuden (2016) with Shipp and Drake, and Toxic: This Is Beautiful Because We Are Beautiful People (2017) with Shipp and Parker. He also appears in the Matthew Shipp Quartet on the album Sonic Fiction (2018), also on EPS-Disk. Each of his albums has been critically acclaimed and Walerian's music is more intriguing with each successive release. Every Dog Has Its Day... brings together some of the best improvisers in music today; it is Walerian's best work to date and one of the best releases of the year.

read full review here :

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/every-dog-has-his-day-but-it-doesnt-matter-because-fat-cat-is-getting-fatter-okuden-quartet-mat-walerian-matthew-shipp-william-parker-hamid-drake-esp-disk

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #okuden #okudenquartet #matwalerian #matthewshipp #williamparker #hamiddrake #espdisk #steveholtje #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #onthefront #All About Jazz #allaboutjazz #karlackermann

[matwalerian]

Paulsemel.com - review - Okuden | Walerian Shipp Parker Drake - "Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter”

"Another epic collection of both hauntingly beautiful mood tone poems and explosive free jazz-adjacent sonic paintings"

"Impressive collection of acoustic jazz that’s both moody and manic, and a worthy successor to the previous albums"

"All four players are at the top of their game here, and, more importantly, work as well together on these tunes as they have on their previous collaborations."

With a name like Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter, you might expect the new album by the Okuden Quartet — bass clarinetist / soprano clarinet player / alto saxophonist / flautist Mat Walerian, pianist Matthew Shipp, double bassist / shakuchi player William Parker, and drummer / percussionist Hamid Drake — to be pretentious or silly or a bit too much. Thankfully, the music on Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter (CD, digital) — and yes, I am going to write it out in full every time because SEO — is anything but. Instead, it’s an impressive collection of acoustic jazz that’s both moody and manic, and a worthy successor to the previous albums these four have recorded in various configurations.

An epic two-disc set. Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter fulfills the promise made by the progression of the first Live At Okuden, the 2015 live album by Mat Walerian and Matthew Shipp; the second Live At Okuden, the 2016 live album Walerian and Shipp made with Hamid Drake, and This Is Beautiful Because We Are Beautiful People, the 2017 studio collection Walerian and Shipp recorded with William Parker. (2018’s Sonic Fiction doesn’t count, technically, since it was a Matthew Shipp Trio album that featured Walerian, and not as Spike Lee would say, a Walerian / Shipp joint.)

To start, Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter opens with “The Forest Council,” an atmospheric, eighteen-minute-long tone poem that has Mat Walerian using echo and distance to great effect, much like he did on the original Live At Okuden. Even when it gets a bit loose, and prominently features William Parker’s expressive bass, it never diverges into noisy territory.

No, for that you have to go to the second track on Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter, “Thelonious Forever.” On it, Mat Walerian immediately switches to aggro mode, a move mirrored by Matthew Shipp, whose playing is also more sporadic. Though it’s not a total left turn, in part because William Parker and Hamid Drake are used on it so sparingly until about the mid-way point, at which everyone gets a bit scattershot (in a good way).

Things on Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter continue with the loose, free jazz adjacent approach of “Magic World,” a sprawling, 37-minute-long three-song suite. Like “Thelonious Forever,” the first song of “Magic World,” “Part 1 – Study,” also opens with a spartan approach, but grows noisier and more aggressive as it progresses, especially where Matthew Shipp and William Parker are concerned.

It even swings a bit, as if the guys were momentarily transported into the smoke-filled bar of a noir novel and realized the noisy stuff just wouldn’t cut it, daddio. The foursome then get playful in a rather funk way for the second and third “Magic World” songs, “Part 2 – Work” and “Part 3 – Life.” Not in a James Brown, or Parliament-Funkadelic kind of way, mind you; more like the swagger of a New Orleans jazz band if they were big fans of late-era Coltrane.

Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter then gets back to free form aggression with “Sir Denis,” a loose and often noisy track that goes beyond the free jazz adjacent approach of “Thelonious Forever” and “Magic World: Part 1 – Study,” and into the fully free territory William Parker’s quartet In Order To Survive explored on such albums as 1996’s Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy, 1998 The Peach Orchard, and 1999’s Posium Pendasem.

Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter then returns to the atmospheric approach of its opener for its penultimate track, “Business With William.” Like “The Forest Council,” “Business With William” has a slower and more spartan approach, though it’s also similar to “Thelonious Forever” and “Magic World: Part 1 – Study” in that, towards the end, it veers into more aggressive territory.

A similar approach is also taken by “Lesson II,” which is both the last track on Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter and a sequel to the song “Lesson” that opened This Is Beautiful Because We Are Beautiful People. It’s a fitting end to this epic collection.

And epic it is. Maybe to epic. At nearly two hours, Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter can be a bit too much to take in one sitting. Granted, that’s not an issue for people who buy it on CD — or rather, on two CDs — but people who go digital would be advised to split it in two. Maybe even with “Magic World” as its own set.

Regardless of how you listen to this, or configure it, Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter is yet another epic collection of both hauntingly beautiful mood tone poems and explosive free jazz-adjacent sonic paintings. All four players are at the top of their game here, and, more importantly, work as well together on these tunes as they have on their previous collaborations. And there’s nothing silly about that.

read full review here :

http://paulsemel.com/jungle-mat-walerian-matthew-shipp-hamid-drake-live-okuden-review/

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #okuden #okudenquartet #matwalerian #matthewshipp #williamparker #hamiddrake #espdisk #steveholtje #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #onthefront #paulsemel #paulsemel.com

[matwalerian]

The Big Takeover, New York - premiere - Okuden | Walerian Shipp Parker Drake - "Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter” - by Big Takeover Exclusives

"On the funky “Magic World Pt. 3 – Life,” Walerian plays bass clarinet, using the instrument’s whole range and a wide variety of timbres, bouncing from lower to higher registers, he mutates the track’s catchy theme while the rhythm section of Shipp, bassist William Parker, and drummer Hamid Drake lay down a kaleidoscopic groove."

Polish multi-instrumentalist Mat Walerian was brought to ESP-Disk’s attention by New York avant-jazz piano icon Matthew Shipp; Walerian’s first ESP release, a duo with Shipp Live at Okuden, was the last new project approved by legendary ESP founder Bernard Stollman before his passing in 2015.

On the funky “Magic World Pt. 3 – Life,” Walerian plays bass clarinet, using the instrument’s whole range and a wide variety of timbres, bouncing from lower to higher registers, he mutates the track’s catchy theme while the rhythm section of Shipp, bassist William Parker, and drummer Hamid Drake lay down a kaleidoscopic groove.

The Big Takeover is happy to host the premiere of “Magic World Pt. 3 – Life” from Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn’t Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter. On Walerian’s fourth release as a leader (all on ESP-Disk’), he is also heard on alto saxophone, soprano clarinet, and flute. Some tracks are more “out” than “Life,” moving into free-form improvisation.

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #okuden #okudenquartet #matwalerian #matthewshipp #williamparker #hamiddrake #espdisk #steveholtje #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #onthefront #thebigtakeover #albumpremiere #albumrelease #bigtakeoverexclusives

[matwalerian]

5 stars ***** - Okuden | Walerian Shipp Parker Drake - review - POLISH JAZZ RECORDINGS AND BEYOND - reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of Polish jazz recordings - "Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn't Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter".

"Mat Walerian is back with the masterpiece double album... best of Mat Walerian so far ... what they offer is a completely mature ... complementary to all what have been created before."

"The music here sounds as a relatively "traditional" free jazz, but is completely to great extend free improvised: this double album is one of the highest achievements of what I call, "kind free jazz"."

(...) "what they offer is a completely mature ... complementary to all what have been created before."

"One of the important differences between the music of the present quartet and the other Masters, lies in the fact of multi-instrumentalism of Mat."

"When talking about the rhythm section, then for this type of jazz, mixing free jazz, free improvisation, and "kind free jazz" the section Shipp-Parker-Drake is simply the best on this earth and probably in the whole galaxy."

"Disc 1 starts with a beautiful slow ballad, 18-minute long "The Forrest Council". Mat starts with long, touching tones of bass clarinet. After a wonderful trio part in the middle of the track, Mat returns... on a flute, and then on clarinet. "Thelonious Forever" is, as expected, a tribute to Thelonious Monk: both the style of composition and improvisations reminding us of the great Monk... William's bass lines are amazing, and so is the short solo of Hamid."

"The next track is the highlight of the album: a kind of suite in three movements "Magic World". "Part 1 - Study" lasts over 15 minutes and starts with a an expressive dialogue of the piano and the bass clarinet. William uses a bow here, and does it in a magnificent way. As Mat changes to soprano clarinet and oscillates back to the bass one, the track attains a "marching" mood. A more quite piano trio part follows, and the clarinet is marching back in the swinging final. "Part 2 - Work" is a funky track, also with a moderately fast marching mood, starting again of the bass clarinet, lasting 12 minutes."

"In the middle Mat turns to the alto saxophone and plays a great solo followed by another more quiet trio fragment. The theme returns and Mat plays an explosive bass clarinet solo. In the final a beautiful trio conversations of Matt, William and Hamid takes place, with a very discrete participation of the leader."

"The most funky, however, is "Magic World - Part 3 - Life”, where Walerian also plays bass clarinet, using, as Big Takeover Exclusives state "the instrument’s whole range and a wide variety of timbres, bouncing from lower to higher registers... He mutates the track’s catchy theme while the rhythm section of Shipp, bassist William Parker, and drummer Hamid Drake lay down a kaleidoscopic groove." The following "Sir Denis" is a 16 minutes long piece with a phenomenal theme and alto solo. Matt Shipp is here and everywhere absolutely essential: it is his piano sound that defines the special and temporal dimensions of this music. After another stunning trio part, Matt is back with another theme. In the final William's bowing of unbelievable beauty leads the quartet. "Business With William" has self-explanatory title. It is a quiet, minimalist track illustrating a delicate bass improvisation with a support of the soprano clarinet. "Lesson II, an over 17 minutes long abstract and fragmented free improvisation ends this majestic set and seminal recording. Mat plays the flute, and the clarinets."

"For me, thus is the best of Mat Walerian so far. "

about Maciej Lewenstein :

Maciej Lewenstein, born in Warsaw in 1955, is a Polish theoretical physicist, currently an ICREA professor at ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences in Castelldefels near Barcelona. He is an author of over 480 scientific articles and 2 books, and recipient of many international and national prizes. In addition to quantum physics his other passion is music, and jazz in particular. His collection of compact discs and vinyls includes over 9000 items.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maciej_Lewenstein

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #okuden #okudenquartet #matwalerian #matthewshipp #williamparker #hamiddrake #espdisk #steveholtje #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #onthefront #polishjazzrecordingsandbeyond #maciejlewenstein

[matwalerian]

ALLMUSIC - one of the definitive music sources online - review - Toxic | Mat Walerian Matthew Shipp William Parker

Album Moods : Ambitious, Improvisatory, Organic, Spiritual, Uncompromising, Airy, Atmospheric, Benevolent, Dramatic, Elaborate, Literate, Spontaneous, Sprawling, Dignified/Noble, Intense, Joyous, Turbulent, Calm/Peaceful, Devotional.

Album Themes : Maverick, The Creative Side

"While Walerian's three albums all showcase a truly massive talent - one as adept at nuanced listening as canny improvisation and creative composition - Toxic is the deepest and widest. Taken as a whole, this record actually sings with inspiration.

"Walerian's bass clarinet is rooted deeply in the tradition, but his use of Eric Dolphy's spiritually infused lyricism gets the most out of his bandmates before he even switches to alto ... Walerian opens himself to imbue it all with an ethereal, poetic, yet authoritative utterance"

"(...) we are again immersed in blues, only this shade bridges the past and the future"

On his third recording for ESP-Disk in as many years, Polish multi-instrumentalist Mat Walerian showcases a new band and makes his studio debut.

His first ESP-Disk release, Uppercut: Live at Okuden, was a duo with pianist Matthew Shipp. Walerian followed it with the trio date Jungle: Live at Okuden, which added drummer Hamid Drake to the mix.

On This Is Beautiful Because We Are Beautiful People, the lineup shifts: bassist/shakuhachi flutist William Parker takes the place of Drake (and marks Parker's own return to the label after a 44-year absence -- he last appeared on Frank Lowe's Black Beings in 1973).

This Is Beautiful was cut in a Brooklyn studio during a single day. Almost 80 minutes in length, it consists of five long tracks.

Opener "Lesson" commences as a duet for flute and shakuhachi before Parker abruptly picks up his bass. Shipp's interrogatory chord voicings are followed by an increasingly dynamic exchange with Walerian. But rather than project fire, the trio move toward an investigation of Asian music -- a primary influence on the bandleader.

"The Breakfast Club Day 1" erupts with Parker's frenetic free bowing before Walerian's alto saxophone enters on the blues tip, shifting its focus. Shipp straddles the line between them, walking out mysterious, repetitive patterns before finding his own labyrinthian way into another hidden lyricism.

Parker's freedom and Walerian's blues eventually entwine with the pianist and the piece gels, unfolding over nearly 20 minutes. Parker again gets the nod to open the title track with a meditative bass solo that takes up a third of the jam's 11-minute length.

When Walerian enters on soprano clarinet, highlighted by Shipp's mysterious blocky chords and subtle, left-hand expressionistic caresses, we are again immersed in blues, only this shade bridges the past and the future.

Shipp's solo on "The Breakfast Club Day 2" is the highlight of this 20-minute jam as he explores intricately wrought ghost voicings amid Parker's punchy bowed pulses and Walerian's almost swinging alto horn.

In the final third they become a single force of swirling color that, even amid the dissonance, creates a groove. Shipp uncharacteristically plays organ on closer "Peace and Respect," which comes off as a seeming glance at the music hidden inside the music of film noir.

Walerian's bass clarinet is rooted deeply in the tradition, but his use of Eric Dolphy's spiritually infused lyricism gets the most out of his bandmates before he even switches to alto. Parker's restraint builds a necessary atmospheric tension as he walks out his own hearing of the blues; Shipp's tonal expressions are eerie and beautiful as Walerian opens himself to imbue it all with an ethereal, poetic, yet authoritative utterance.

While Walerian's three albums all showcase a truly massive talent - one as adept at nuanced listening as canny improvisation and creative composition - Toxic's This Is Beautiful Because We Are Beautiful People is the deepest and widest. Taken as a whole, this record actually sings with inspiration.

read full review here :

https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-beautiful-because-we-are-beautiful-people-mw0002951096

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #TripleTrouble #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #GiveItToYouRaw #matwalerian #matthewshipp #williamparker #steveholtje #espdisk #ThisIsBeautifulBecauseWeAreBeautifulPeople #allmusic #thomjurek

[matwalerian]

AllAboutJazz - magazine and website for jazz enthusiasts and industry professionals - review - Matthew Shipp Quartet with Mat Walerian Michael Bisio Whit Dickey “Sonic Fiction” - by Don Phipps

"Sonic Fiction, an album chock full of bluesy, quirky, sonic landscapes that suggest a late-night visit to a Tom Waits' greasy spoon diner or a starless midnight walk along a creaky fisherman's wharf."

"... blues abstraction combined with elements of free music. The improvisations on Sonic Fiction are at times breathtaking. Explosive, dark, flowing, adventurous, and challenging, this is music that engages and at times explodes. Recommended."

"The music incorporates a mix of bop and free-improv elements. Towards the end, Shipp and Walerian perform a call-and-response with awesome technique (...) an intriguing exploration of blues abstractions and free playing that is as evocative as it is cerebral."

"On "The Station," Walerian sounds part Eric Dolphy and part David Murray (...) Walerian enters on alto at the halfway mark. His elevator runs jet up and down as Shipp and company explore multiple tangents."

Prolific composer and pianist Matthew Shipp demonstrates his craft on Sonic Fiction, an album chock full of bluesy, quirky, sonic landscapes that suggest a late-night visit to a Tom Waits' greasy spoon diner or a starless midnight walk along a creaky fisherman's wharf. Shipp gives his talented cohorts, Mat Walerian on clarinet and sax, Michael Bisio on bass, and Whit Dickey on drums, plenty of room to maneuver and paint their own sonic stories. The result is an intriguing exploration of blues abstractions and free playing that is as evocative as it is cerebral.

"First Step" opens with a bluesy intro. Walerian's alto sax has a closing-time drawl and Shipp paints a dusky picture with his piano chords. The bass and drum float lazily underneath. Shipp stays with the blues on "Blues Addition." This piece has a feel of drunken melancholy. With Bisio providing a bass counterpoint, Walerian uses the clarinet to create extended phrases that scale up and down the registers. He slaps his tongue across the reed for emphasis. Bisio plucks and twangs underneath Walerian's plaintive moans to add color to the late-night ramble.

On "The Station," Walerian sounds part Eric Dolphy and part David Murray. He uses his bass clarinet solo to sculpt legato phrases of deep somber long notes, howls, squeals, boisterous squawks, and soft tones. Another bluesy ramble, "Lines of Energy" gives Walerian the opportunity to improvise over Shipp's pecks and probes. Bisio aggressively works the bass and Dickey explores drum timbres and rolls. As Shipp rumbles on the piano, Walerian's sax lines dance above with squeals before the piece ends abruptly.

Shipp solos on "Easy Flow." He offers up a combination of bluesy formalism and loose counterpoint. The piano phrases are complex and discordant, probing but not dark. Bisio begins "The Problem of Jazz" with a robust walk. Walerian and Dickey enter in a fury. Walerian uses the reed to blow rattling pronouncements and Dickey and Shipp splash beneath. Dickey rolls and snaps the drum kit. Then, Bisio suddenly goes from a bass walk to a kind of slappy abstract blues line. The piece ends on a single bass note.

"The Note," a novelty, consists solely of a single high note that Shipp strikes on the piano.

Shipp commences "3 by 4" with some free playing and Dickey's aggressive drumming flows beneath the piano phrasing. Bisio works the bass up and down the neck. Walerian enters on alto at the halfway mark. His elevator runs jet up and down as Shipp and company explore multiple tangents.

On "Cell in the Brain," Shipp starts inside the piano with an eerie twang. Dickey adds a bass-drum effect. Walerian's legato phrasing on clarinet extends over Dickey's drum rolls. Shipp enters with emphasis and Walerian squeals and laughs his clarinet as Shipp begins a series of single legato notes. Walerian continues to howl and hoot but never loses control. Shipp adds a splash here and there, and as Walerian finishes with a few choice legato notes, he plays a note inside the piano.

On "Sonic Fiction," Walerian dances phrases above Shipp's piano lines. As the duet develops, Shipp plays some all-over blues abstractions before breaking into a full chord march. Walerian blows hot above. The duet ends when Bisio and Dickey enter, with Bisio producing deep bass lines as Dickey adds color underneath. The playing shifts to piano trio as Bisio busily bows the bass beneath Shipp's piano lines and Walerian's sax squeals above. The bass notes turn into hot lava, and Walerian effects the fiery splashes of volcanic eruption. After the extended trio, Bisio bows a long line and Shipp enters with strong piano-chord splashes of his own. Suddenly Bisio initiates a bass walk and the music turns to bop. Shipp plays inside the harmonics and Walerian produces high notes and low. The music incorporates a mix of bop and free-improv elements. Towards the end, Shipp and Walerian perform a call-and-response with awesome technique.

Like other Shipp albums, this one remains true to his vision—blues abstraction combined with elements of free music. The improvisations on Sonic Fiction are at times breathtaking. Explosive, dark, flowing, adventurous, and challenging, this is music that engages and at times explodes. Recommended.

read full review here :

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/sonic-fiction-matthew-shipp-esp-disk-review-by-don-phipps.php

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #matthewshipp #matwalerian #michaelbisio #whitdickey #steveholtje #espdisk #sonicfiction #matthewshippquartet #allaboutjazz #donphipps

[matwalerian]

Stereophile - New York's High End Audio and Music Magazine - Records to Die For list - 4.5 star review - Jungle | Mat Walerian Matthew Shipp Hamid Drake - by John Swenson

"This recording documents a memorable 2012 trip to Japan by reed and woodwind sensation Mat Walerian and veteran leaders. (...) nothing short of transcendent, an interaction of shocking power and dynamics"

"Walerian (...) applies the formalities of Indian music to his conception of jazz history. He evokes the mastery of John Coltrane..."

"The groans of Walerian’s alto against the maelstrom of Drake’s drums and Shipp’s piano are like listening to a hurricane strain against the walls of an old wooden house."

"This recording documents a memorable 2012 trip to Japan by reed and woodwind sensation Mat Walerian and veteran leaders, pianist Matthew Shipp and drummer Hamid Drake, for the Okuden Music Concert Series. It’s a companion piece to the outstanding Shipp-Walerian duet album from same festival, The Uppercut, released last year by ESP. On that record, Walerian and Shipp’s interplay is nothing short of transcendent, an interaction of shocking power and dynamics. This one reveals a more completely realized picture of Walerian’s compositions in a more evolved trio setting. With a drummer in the mix, Shipp softens the dynamics of his astonishingly percussive pianistics.

If you thought it would be impossible to find original approaches to piano playing at this point in jazz history, immerse yourself in Shipp’s catalogue for an ongoing display of breathtaking originality. Although he can reference a blinding array of influences, he plays like no other pianist. Instead, plays like a painter, evoking landscapes and mindscapes with unusual phrasing while managing the pulse.

Walerian, a student of Shipp’s, applies the formalities of Indian and Chinese music to his conception of jazz history. He evokes the mastery of John Coltrane in the epic “One For”, as Shipp plays his most Tyner-esque block chords. Or the three can converse in a new language altogether, as in this set’s longest track, “Coach on da Mic”, a tour de force for each of them.

This music travels through Walerian’s compositions seamlessly – like movements of a symphony on disc 1, and like tone poems on disc 2. “Shrine” begins with a series of slow, delicate, pointillist notes from Shipp before Walerian interjects flute phrases that sound like tropical birds, and Drake offers clicking response with his sticks. It’s an invocation of the journey to come, which begins with Shipp articulating walking melodic lines with his right hand before they float into “Teleport”. Shipp plays contrasting arpeggios and stark chords, and Walerian shifts to soprano clarinet as the exchange heats up. Suddenly we’re transported into “Gentle Giants”, Shipp pounding away big-footed accompaniment to Walerian’s alto sax. The groans of Walerian’s alto against the maelstrom of Drake’s drums and Shipp’s piano are like listening to a hurricane strain against the walls of an old wooden house. In “123 Sylvester 230 CE”, Drake’s tom and bass drums roll thunderously under Walerian’s fierce alto playing as Shipp comps furiously against the grain.

The second movement begins with a lengthy solo from Shipp in “Ultimate Insurance”, a prime example of his virtuoso two-handed playing. Drake follows with a dynamically evolving solo before, at the end, Walerian appears briefly on bass clarinet to effect the transition into “Good Trip Is a Safe Trip” – at first a long solo, with Shipp and then and then Drake commenting in the latter part of the piece. After a pause, the contemplative “Perfect Joint” opens with angled strokes from piano and drums behind Walerian’s ethereal alto statement. Bassist William Parker, who frequently collaborates with these players and wrote the liner notes for this record and The Uppercut, writes that Walerian’s playing “reminds me of the Japanese paintings of Sesshu, full of fine lines, images and sounds that tell haiku-like stories, arresting and mysterious”

about Stereophile :

The magazine was founded in 1962 by J. Gordon Holt. As of 2014, the editor was John Atkinson, who joined the magazine in May 1986.

Stereophile is published in New York by The Enthusiast Network, a publisher of special interest magazines.

Features include their annual "Records to Die For" section, where each editor and writer reviews two outstanding albums of their choice, and the bi-annual "Recommended Components" issue in which audio equipment which has been reviewed in the recent past are classified as "A, B, C or D" level components, with "A" being the most highly recommended.

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #TripleTrouble #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #GiveItToYouRaw #matwalerian #matthewshipp #hamiddrake #steveholtje #espdisk #jungle #liveatokuden #stereophile #recordstodiefor

[matwalerian]

BEST OF THE YEAR - 2 YEARS IN A ROW - THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

The City's Only Homegrown Jazz Gazette

Got it for both 2015 & 2016 - second year in a row - MF come on

2015 The Uppercut | Matthew Shipp Mat Walerian Duo “Live at Okuden”

2016 Jungle | Mat Walerian Matthew Shipp Hamid Drake "Live at Okuden"

My trio Jungle with Matt and Hamid got honorable mention best of the year release again - second year in a row - along with Michael Bisio/Kirk Knuffke duo, Jack DeJohnette/Ravi Coltrane/Matthew Garrison, Erik Friedlander, Don Friedman, Evan Parker, Dave Liebman, Jemeel Moondoc/Hilliard Greene, Michel Portal, Wadada Leo Smith, Henry Threadgill, Alexander von Schlippenbach ...

What can you say ...

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #TripleTrouble #EveryDogHasItsDayButItDoesntMatterBecauseFatCatIsGettingFatter #GiveItToYouRaw #matwalerian #matthewshipp #hamiddrake #steveholtje #espdisk #jungle #liveatokuden #bestof2016 #bestoftheyear #thenewyorkcityjazzrecord

[matwalerian]

DownBeat Magazine - Jazz, Blues & Beyond since 1934 - review - Matthew Shipp Quartet with Mat Walerian Michael Bisio Whit Dickey “Sonic Fiction” - by Bill Milkowski

"(...) travels from a tempestuous duet between piano and saxophone to a turbulent trio among saxophone, piano and bass, closing on a simpatico note with a flexible, free-boppish excursion by the full quartet."

Sonic Fiction reunites Shipp with his long-standing rhythm tandem of bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Whit Dickey, and adds Polish woodwind player Mat Walerian (a member of the Toxic trio with Shipp and bassist Willilam Parker). The mysterioso opener, "First Step", has Shipp feeding Walerian spikey chords to sail over on alto saxophone as Bisio bows and Dickey colors the proceedings with rubato flourishes. "Blues Addition" opens with more stirring, Ellington influenced solo piano by Shipp before he gives way to a conversational duet between Bisio's bass and Walerian's clarinet, which he plays with a keening kind of conviction.

Some of Shipp's most dynamic playing here can be heard on the tumultuous and incendiary "3 By 4", which also finds Walerian wailing in the altissimo range on alto. And the 12-minute closer travels from a tempestuous duet between piano and saxophone to a turbulent trio among saxophone, piano and bass, closing on a simpatico note with a flexible, free-boppish excursion by the full quartet.

With 85 albums under his belt as a leader or co-leader, Shipp has become an elder statesman on the free-jazz scene. His catalog is deep and his influence undeniable, just as Cecil Taylor and Don Pullen - firebrands from another era - had been a generation before.

read full review here :

http://www.downbeat.com/digitaledition/2018/DB1805/single_page_view/57.html

http://www.downbeat.com/

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #matthewshipp #matwalerian #michaelbisio #whitdickey #steveholtje #espdisk #sonicfiction #matthewshippquartet #downbeat #billmilkowski

[matwalerian]

Jazz Right Now - Improvised music on the New York Scene - playlist for the week of April 9, 2018 - Matthew Shipp Quartet with Mat Walerian Michael Bisio Whit Dickey "Sonic Fiction"

by Cisco Bradley, assistant professor of history in the Department of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

Matthew Shipp Quartet next to John Coltrane, Anthony Braxton and Bill Dixon Orchestra !

about Jazz Right Now https://jazzrightnow.com/about/ :

Commentary on New York City’s contemporary creative improvised music scene. Latest news on the scene as well as an archive of musicians, recordings, interviews, concerts, reviews, and other information.

The project grew out of a desire to shed greater light upon the musical renaissance now ongoing in New York City with particular emphasis on young and emerging artists.

Website content by Cisco Bradley, assistant professor of history in the Department of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.

playlist available here :

https://jazzrightnow.com/2018/04/16/playlist-for-the-week-of-april-9-2018/

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #matwalerian #matthewshipp #michaelbisio #whitdickey #steveholtje #espdisk #sonicfiction #matthewshippquartet #jazzrightnow #playlistoftheweek #ciscobradley

[matwalerian]

Matthew Shipp Quartet with Mat Walerian Michael Bisio Whit Dickey - “Sonic Fiction” - UK radio - totallyradio - the UK’s longest running internet radio station launched in July 2000 - “The Mystery Lesson” show by Daniel Spicer presenting "Lines of Energy"

A dense contusion of sounds on The Mystery Lesson this week, playing brand new out-sounds from around the world, including... deep free-jazz from new York by Matthew Shipp Quartet.

playlist available here :

https://www.totallyradio.com/shows/the-mystery-lesson/episodes/the-mystery-lesson-15-july-2016

about totallyradio : https://totallyradio.com/about

#FatCatsDoItInBrooklyn #SupremeDreamTeam #GiveItToYouRaw #matwalerian #matthewshipp #michaelbisio #whitdickey #steveholtje #espdisk #sonicfiction #totallyradio #themysterylesson #UKradio #daniel spicer