Enter the Plustet
| Enter the PlusTet | ||||
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| Studio album by Taylor Ho Bynum | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Firehouse 12 Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
3 |
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running time |
43:56 |
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| occupation |
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Nick Lloyd, Taylor Ho Bynum |
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Studio (s) |
Firehouse 12 Warehouse Studio, New Haven, CT |
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Enter the PlusTet is a jazz album by Taylor Ho Bynum with his big band PlusTet . Recorded on January 11th and 12th, 2016 at Firehouse 12 Warehouse Studio , New Haven, Connecticut, released on October 28th, 2016 on Firehouse 12 Records .
background
The PlusTet is not Bynum's first foray into working with large formations, but with 15 members and three long, massive pieces, it's probably his best project since his sextet, said Lee Rice Epstein. Positive Catastrophe , a ten-member "little big band", was jointly led by Bynum and Abraham Gomez-Delgado . Previously Bynum had assembled an octet his versatile arrangements of Princes music played (with a rhythm section of Prince-meets-prime time , which of Stomu Takeishi and Pheeroan akLaff was enshrined).
The cornetist and composer Taylor Ho Bynum moves with his compositions in the "difficult balance between freely improvised and arranged music", wrote Karl Ackermann. The album was preceded by productions with extensive line-ups, such as the previous releases by Firehouse 12 Records , his sextet Apparent Distance (2011) and with his sextet and septet on the box set Navigation (The Complete Firehouse 12 Recordings) (2012). On Bynum's album Enter the Plus Tet , he added a few other personal additions to his core sextet, which created a larger and more diverse sound, Ackermann noted. The saxophonists Jim Hobbs , Matt Bauder , the guitarist Mary Halvorson , the bassist Ken Filiano , the drummer Tomas Fujiwara and Bill Lowe on tuba and trombone have already participated in the above-mentioned sextet / septet recordings. They are joined by trumpeter Stephanie Richards ( Asphalt Orchestra ) and trumpeter Nate Wooley , saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and Jason Kao Hwang on violin. The fifteen-member ensemble conveyed - especially because of the additional strings - "a full orchestral feeling when Bynum demands this result," wrote the author.
The scope of this project was partly inspired by Bynum's work on "Trillium J," Anthony Braxton's more than three-hour opera, although every single track on the album has its own backstory, said Troy Collins. About half of Enter the Plus Tet is taken up by the opening number "Sleeping Giant," a composition inspired by Bynum's hiking experiences on the trail near his New Haven residence. However, the title of the piece pays homage to Prince , whose legacy and untimely death had a strong impact on Bynum.
Originally written for Jabbo Wares orchestra, the blues- influenced abstraction "Three (for Me We & Them)" is an "unconventional swinging homage to creative big bands in the tradition of Duke Ellington and Sun Ra ". The fragmentary title track "That Which Only ... Never Before" (dt. The thing just ... never before ) is based on what the trumpeter Bill Dixon said before his final concert to Bynum. The free-running melody encompasses a series of dynamic changes that pass from lively expressionism to lazy inwardness. The piece is supported by a number of extrapolations from Bynum, Reid, and Hobbs.
Plus Tet shared the stage with Wadada Leo Smith at the Festival of New Trumpet Music in New York's New School in 2016 . On March 2, 2017, Bynum performed "Sleeping Giant" at Roulette , Brooklyn.
With The Ambiguity Manifesto , Bynum completed the trilogy for Firehouse 12 Records with his 2019 nonet , which began in 2013 with the sextet recording Navigation (Possibility Abstract X & XI) by the band leader and was continued with Enter The Plustet . The three albums were recorded at Firehouse 12 , the New Haven, Connecticut studio and performance space that Bynum calls his "home from home," according to Bill Milkowski on Down Beat .
Track list
- Taylor Ho Bynum Plustet: Enter the Plustet (Firehouse 12 Records FH12-04-01-025)
- Sleeping Giant 21:10
- Three (For Me We & Them) 12:11
- That Which Only ... Never Before 10:37
- All compositions are by Taylor Ho Bynmum.
reception
In the opinion of Karl Ackermann, who gave the album 4½ (out of five) stars in All About Jazz , Bynum has “shown a special talent for extended work in larger group situations”. With Enter the Plustet , Bynum creates “a clear but unpredictable image to explain his vision for these works”. The addition of Nate Wooley and Steve Swell - with their idiosyncratic styles - fits perfectly and Stephanie Richards is a name that should be known in the near future, ment Ackermann.
Also in All About Jazz , Troy Collins (who awarded the album four stars) wrote that on Enter the PlusTet , Bynum was continuing to explore the infinite possibilities of writing for larger ensembles, thus following in the footsteps of the Navigation project, its ambitious multiformat Sextet and septet recordings (Firehouse 12, 2012). For the extended line-up, he created a trio of long-form compositions that circumvented the conventions of traditional song forms through non-linear episodic narratives.
Aaron Novik ( Bird Is the Worm ) praised “the great statements, the raw emotional power, and the inspirations and surprises that come from improvised music . Every piece of this music vibrates so intensely, and the music sounds great even during its quieter passages. The humanity of the music shines through strong and bright, a feeling that there is a perfect confluence of creativity that runs a main line from the heart of the musician to the last fading notes to reach the ears of the listener. ”The author saw that Meaning in the "distance between avant-garde wildness and classic big-band - and moonlight ballads could be crossed with a sudden abruptness or the greatest subtlety and every change had a certain strange logic as it happened. It meant which foreign landscape Bynum and his PlusTet wanted to create, everything was accessible and no matter how much the landscape might change, everything belonged together. ”The fact that a large part of this effect is created through improvisation, Novik believes, makes the performance all the more greater.
According to Lee Rice Epstein, who gave the album the highest rating on the Free Jazz Blog , Enter the PlusTet is "a dense, thrilling and emotional album that, beyond its size, feels like a highlight of Bynum's many projects and ideas" .
Mike Shanley, speaking for JazzTimes , said it was no surprise that Taylor Ho Bynum's original work was inspired by Anthony Braxton and the late Bill Dixon, two of his musical mentors. The really difficult question arises, in which way these adventurous influences would mix in separate cases with the swing of the big band and the soulful grooves of Prince, says the author. In this respect it is impressive how the PlusTet, a “ dream team ” of 15 future- oriented musicians, “combine freedom and composition with an infallible sense of taste”.
In "Sleeping Giant" short interjections by the ensemble Nate Wooley's trumpet smears and a little collective gasp, Shanley described the musical events. “Further solos are divided into a unique ostinato , which consists of a mixture of guitar, vibraphone, bass and drums. But halfway through, the group morphs into what Bynum calls a "shade of purple," which evokes a Prince vibe. Even if the group is playing more solos again, the R&B-laden background makes perfect sense. ”In“ Three (for Me We & Them) ”, the bow to Jabbo Wares Me We & Them Orchestra (a big band that also includes that PlusTet member Bill Lowe belonged to), after a psychedelic solo by Mary Halvorsons and a rugged bass trombone spot by Lowe, the ensemble put the ensemble on a bluesy swing “that is fluent in both tradition and avant-garde.” In “That Which Only… Never Before “, the reference to Bill Dixon, Bynum opens the piece with a few Dixon-like rasps on the cornet, and cellist Tomeka Reid and alto saxophonist Jim Hobbs offer piercing solos. “This band really does credit to their influences,” Shanley said in his summary.
Web links
- Listing of the album on Allmusic (English). Accessed January 1, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Lee Rice Epstein: Taylor Ho Bynum: Enter the Plus Tet. Free Jazz Blog, January 25, 2017, accessed May 15, 2020 .
- ^ A b c Karl Ackermann: Taylor Ho Bynum: Enter the Plus Tet. All About Jazz, October 8, 2016, accessed May 15, 2020 .
- ^ A b c Troy Collins: Taylor Ho Bynum: Enter the Plus Tet. All About Jazz, October 23, 2016, accessed May 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Dave Ballou , Stephanie Richards, Nate Wooley , Chris Dimeglio (trumpet), Vincent Chancey (French horn), Steve Swell (trombone), Bill Lowe (bass trombone, tuba), Jim Hobbs, Ingrid Laubrock, Matt Bauder played in his PlusTet , Stuart Bogie (saxophone), Dana Jessen (bassoon), Jean Cook (violin), Tomeka Reid (cello), Andria Nicodemou (vibraphone), Adam Matlock (accordion), Mary Halvorson (guitar), Ken Filiano (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums).
- ^ Bill Milkowski: Taylor Ho Bynum Explores the Indeterminacy of Genre and Style. Down Beat, December 18, 2019, accessed May 23, 2020 .
- ↑ Taylor Ho Bynum Plustet: Enter the Plustet at Discogs
- ^ Aaron Novik: Taylor Ho Bynum: Enter the Plus Tet. Bird is the Worm, October 31, 2016, accessed May 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Mike Shanley: Taylor Ho Bynum: Enter the PlusTet. JazzTimes, February 20, 2017, accessed May 23, 2020 .