Good and Evil Sessions
| Good and Evil Sessions | ||||
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| Studio album from The Blue Series Continuum | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Thirsty Ear | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Jazz , electronica , fusion |
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Title (number) |
9 |
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running time |
43:16 |
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Danny Blume and Chris Kelly |
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Studio (s) |
GoodandEvil Studios |
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Good and Evil Sessions is a jazz album by the studio formation The Blue Series Continuum around Matthew Shipp and William Parker , which was recorded in 2003 at GoodandEvil Studios with the musician and producer duo Danny Blume and Chris Kelly , also known as "GoodandEvil" Appeared in the Thirsty Ear label's Blue Series in August 2003 .
The album
After the first two productions Masses (2001) and Sorcerer Sessions - featuring the Music of Matthew Shipp (released in January 2003), Good and Evil Sessions was the second album of the Blue Series Continuum , whose core consisted of William Parker and Matthew Shipp and with this album was expanded to include Alex Lodico , Josh Roseman , Miso and Roy Campbell . The thirsty-ear series Blue Series intended to fuse avant jazz with hip-hop and electronica . The formation The Blue Series Continuum was intended to work with a rotating group of musicians instead of accentuated band leader- oriented projects. The present album got more dance-pop oriented than the previous productions.
The album opens with Brainwash , which is propelled by William Parker's haunted ostinato . Roy Campbell's trumpet contributes a sonically reset solo in the fusion style. Pieces like The Hideout have a 1970s flair, with references to funk music . Overall, the trombonists Lodico and Roseman have an active role in the process of expanding the group sound, but are mixed in such a way that they do not dominate the sound textures too often. Textural contributions come from the percussive, programmed and produced activities of the duo Danny Blume and Chris Kelly as well as Matthew Shipp and the turntablist and programmer Miso in the form of subtle harmonies, scratched solos and riffs .
Shipp and Williams continued the Blue Series Continuum project the following year with hip hop musician and producer EL-P on the album High Water .
Track list
- The Blue Series Continuum: Good and Evil Sessions (Thirsty Ear, THI 57134.2)
- Brainwash - 6:34
- Then Again - 4:39
- Stakeout - 4:48
- Close Call - 4:17
- Hideout - 4:38
- On the Run - 4:41
- Roll It Back - 4:03
- Change of Plans - 5:08
- Sweetbitter - 4:20
- All compositions are by Danny Blume, Chris Kelly, Matthew Shipp and Miso.
reception
All About Jazz judged the album that its “sound was unmistakably jazz-tronic”, combining programmed beats , loops and samples with live performance. The brass would serve both as solo instruments and as a starting point for textures, as in Close Call . Matthew Shipps playing on the Korg synthesizer in Then Again is reminiscent of his album Equilibrium (2003); elsewhere he subordinates himself to the brass section, so there is no such thing as a "focus on" instruments. For example, William Parker only helps to drive the music forward. Overall, the highlights of the record are “huge”, on the other hand it also has its “valley floors”. The drums seem very dull and enclosed, and the “ inside-out changes are not always particularly intuitive”. Ultimately, it is good to know that the self-proclaimed flagship group of Thirsty Ears Blue Series remains true to the vision of the label.
Steve Loewy commented on the album in Allmusic that the results were "unpredictable and wonderfully outrageous"; free improvisation meets punk and dance rhythms, "littered with foot-tapping, body-swaying pulses." Although the pop twists and turns could trigger a debate in the manageable but vocal free jazz community about the commercialization of art, they would the generally uncompromising improvisations of Shipp and Parker's line-up hold up reasonably well, even if they turned out to be a little less intense and complex than usual. This kind of crossover fusion could help to broaden the reputation of these otherwise unknown, if extremely talented musicians. Shipp is in excellent shape, he spins a web of simple, but never too simple phrases, "wrapped in smooth nuances."
Christian Carey wrote in Splendid e-zine that the atmosphere created by such an integration of popular styles will be a borderline for some listeners. Some would no doubt say this is the sell-out version of avant-garde jazz to get more listeners. In fact, the Good and Evil Sessions are perhaps less musically controversial than some other thirsty-ear experimental releases, but this is "not a chillout sampler ". Although the grooves are "engaging and the background tracks are familiar in style, in fact harmony and solos details would drive both mom and dad out of the disco and the hipster out of the club" (such as the titles On the Run and Roll it Back ). “So, if I am allowed to play on words,” the author sums up, “chill and listen”. The music of Continuum may "reach back into the past, but like any good continuum, extend into the future".
Patrick Sisson praised the album in Pop Matters and noted that the experiment, "[embedding] fantasy free jazz riffs in cool, calculated electronica beats without sounding trite," gave some impressive results. The producer duo GoodandEvil , who previously worked with rappers Northern State and DJs such as Felix Da Housecat and Roni Size , despite these influences do not stay at the level of a DJ from the lower town who spice up boring beats with clichéd jazz decorated. “ Fortunately, the Good and Evil sessions don't stop at this level; with an ensemble that brags about such creative drive , 'laid-back' never becomes a euphemism for boredom ”. The opening title, Brainwash , has “a perfect structure; Shipp's graceful piano gives way to Parker's precise bass strokes, the trombone duo lays a solid floor, and then the percussion kicks in at the right time to let Campbell fly freely with his buttery trumpet tones. This track exemplifies the implicit promise of this concept, namely that each individual talent is allowed to shine on a collective stage. ”
A perfect example of extraordinary playing is Campbell's stuffed talking trumpet in Close Call . Despite all reservations (the stunning bass lines by William Parker deserved more attention in the mix) “the album succeeds. 'The GoodandEvil Sessions' is obviously not a regular jazz album; the collective mindset, coupled with the production by the duo GoodandEvil, guarantees that this album comes closer to an extended downtempo album than a group of live musicians with some electronic frills. ”In the author's view it would have been an even stronger album could if the jazz musicians had been given more freedom, “but that's not the point. 'The Blue Series Continuum' mixes organic and electronic [parts] like a talented DJ works with a pair of turntables, and the result, a unique expression of jazz-based grooves, promises more to come from this one-of-a-kind range ”.
Editor's note
The tracks The Stakeout, Then Again, The Hideout, Roll It Back and Brainwash also appeared on the 2013 vinyl 12-inch single The GoodandEvil Sessions (Crosstalk - CROSS04).
Individual evidence
- ↑ with William Parker, George Trebar , Guillermo E. Brown , Daniel Carter , Matthew Shipp, Tim Berne , Evan Parker , Roy Campbell, Mat Maneri and Ed Coxon
- ↑ with Gerald Cleaver , William Parker, Matthew Shipp, Daniel Bernard Roumain , Evan Ziporyn, and FLAM. See album information at Thirsty Ear ( Memento of the original from August 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/prod/TheBlueSeriesContinuum-GoodAndEvilSessions-ThirstyEar-23458.html
- ↑ a b c Review of the album (2003) in Splendid ( Memento of the original from August 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Good and Evil Sessions at Discogs (English)
- ^ Review of the album (2003) at All About Jazz
- ↑ Review of Steve Loewy's album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ↑ Review of the album in Pop Matters (2003)
- ↑ Discographic information at Discogs
