Target or Flag
| Target or Flag | ||||
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| Studio album by Ken Vandermark & The Vandermark 5 | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Atavistic Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
1:05:30 |
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| occupation |
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Studio (s) |
Airwave Recording Studios, Chicago |
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Target or Flag is a jazz album by Ken Vandermark and his band The Vandermark 5 . The recordings made on October 25th and 26th, 1997 at Airwave Recording Studios, Chicago, were released on May 19th, 1998 on Atavistic Records .
background
Target or Flag was - after the debut album Single Piece Flow (1997) - the second recording of the Vandermark 5 with Mars Williams (saxophone), Jeb Bishop on trombone and guitar, Kent Kessler on bass and Tim Mulvenna on drums.
Track list
- The Vandermark Five: Target or Flag (Atavistic ALP106, Atavistic - ALP106CD)
- Sucker Punch (For Phelps (Catfish) Collins) 7:18
- Attempted, Not Known (For Derek Bailey and George Lewis ) 11:23
- Start of Something (For Ellen Major ) 8:11
- Super Opaque (For Cecil Taylor ) 08:59
- Last Call (For Eddie Hazel ) 08:02
- New Luggage (for Shelly Manne ) 08:35
- 8K (For Peter Brötzmann ) 06:45
- Fever Dream (For Dan Grzeca) 08:46
- All compositions are by Ken Vandermark.
reception
Jason Ankeny wrote in Allmusic that Vandermark 5's second album was a big leap after their debut Single Piece Flow , a tightrope walk between conventional jazz forms and wild avant-garde; Vandermark has both a wide sound spectrum and an impressive sound strength. Supported by players from the Chicago area like Mars Williams and Kent Kessler, his most innovative ideas would be implemented in full.
The Penguin Guide to Jazz notes that some dedications "indicated his affection for the urban precision of world-class West Coast jazz , and his own pieces made a point of following some of the characteristics (counterpoint, tonal contrast) on which this school operated" .
According to Aaron Cohen, who reviewed the album on Down Beat , Vandermark knows the value of a well-rehearsed band. "The unit on this record is the most coherent he has led." Target or Flag shows that Vandermark's saxophone aerodynamics might have brought him an audience at first, but it would be his skills as a composer and bandleader that will build his lasting impact .
Web links
- Information about the album at Bandcamp
- Listing of the album on Allmusic (English). Accessed January 1, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Vandermark Five: Target or Flag at Discogs
- ↑ Review of Jason Ankeny's album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- ^ Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (6th ed.). London: Penguin, 2002. p. 1488. ISBN 0140515216 .
- ^ Aaron Cohen, Target of Flag review. Down Beat March 99: pp. 48-49.