World of Jazz 433

Dan Pitt Quartet “Two Part” from Wrongs (Self Released) 00:00
Dave Douglas “The Dream” from The Dream: Monash Sessions (Greenleaf) 06:29
Michael Dease “Parker’s Fancy” from Give It All You Got (Posi-Tone) 11:19
Steve Slagle “We Release” from Nascentia (Panorama Records) 16:40
Iain Sinclair with London Experimental Ensemble “Dark After Dark Part 1.1” from Dark After Dark (577 Records) 22:52
Dan Pitt Quartet “Hunter’s Dream” from Wrongs (Self Released) 35:10
Michael Dease “Lake Toxaway Getaway” from Give It All You Got (Posi-Tone) 40:25
Steve Slagle “All Up In It” from Nascentia (Panorama Records) 45:12
Dan Pitt Quartet “Wrongs” from Wrongs (Self Released) 53:26
Dave Douglas “Convenings” from The Dream: Monash Sessions (Greenleaf) 1:00:00
Michael Dease “Transylvania County Funk Parade” from Give It All You Got (Posi-Tone) 1:08:51
Iain Sinclair with London Experimental Ensemble “Dark After Dark Part 1.2” from Dark After Dark (577 Records) 1:14:56
Steve Slagle “Who Compares To You” from Nascentia (Panorama Records) 1:23:11
Iain Sinclair London Experimental Ensemble “Dark After Dark Part 1.3” from Dark After Dark (577 Records) 1:28:46
Tony Malaby “Mirror Me, Humpty Dumpty , Endless” from Cellar Notes (Self Released) 1:43:44

Dan Pitt Quartet

Naomi McCarroll-Butler – Alto Sax & Bass Clarinet
Patrick Smith – Tenor & Soprano Sax
Dan Pitt – Electric Guitar
Alex Fournier – Double Bass
Nick Fraser – Drums

Dan Pitt is a guitarist, composer, educator and improviser. As an active member of Toronto’s jazz and creative music scene for the past several years, Pitt has played guitar in a variety of bands with the likes of Dave Young, Pat Collins, David Braid, Terry Clarke, Terry Promane, Tim Berne, and Michael Attias. He has also worked and recorded with Harrison Vetro, Lina Allemano, Nick Fraser and Andrew Downing. His first two records as a leader – the trio outing Fundamentally Flawed and the solo recording Monochrome – were critically lauded, establishing Pitt as an exciting young voice on the creative music scene.

Wrongs – Pitt’s third release as a leader – is easily his most ambitious work yet.

With Wrongs, Pitt expands on his creative vision, adding a tetrad of woodwinds into the mix. For this recording, Pitt enlisted bassist Alex Fournier and drummer Nick Fraser – both of whom play in Pitt’s trio – while also adding the sounds of Naomi McCarroll-Butler on bass clarinet and alto sax as well as Patrick Smith on tenor and soprano saxophones.

The compositions featured on this album were written over the course of the last several years, and serve as a vehicle for the band to take in whatever direction they want, as far out as they want to go. From the ambient wash of Hunter’s Dream to the aggressive bite of the title track, this music offers a broad range of sounds and textures that further demonstrate Pitt’s ability to create music that isn’t constrained by the limits of any style or genre.

Wrongs will be released worldwide on Friday, April 9th.

Dave Douglas

Composed by acclaimed American composer and jazz trumpeter, Dave Douglas, The Dream was inspired by the poetry of First Nations author, activist, artist, playwright and printmaker, Kevin Gilbert (1933–1993). It features Douglas alongside the outstanding jazz and improvisation musicians from the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music (SZCSoM), Monash University (Melbourne, Australia). The nature of this recording was particularly ambitious as a result of the challenges posed by asynchronous performance and recording (in response to the COVID-19 distancing restrictions), with the performers working across distance and differing time zones and restricted to recording from their respective home studios. Recording such as this enable students the privilege and rare opportunity to be mentored by artists in workshops, rehearsals, performances and the recording process gaining a deep understanding of collaboration with international leaders in the field. This unique student experience is a key pedagogical approach within the SZCSoM, that focuses on mentoring the emerging next generation of jazz and improvisation musicians.

Michael Dease

Michael Dease – trombone
Greg Tardy – tenor sax
Anthony Stanco – trumpet
Jim Alfredson – organ
Ulysses Owens Jr – drums
Gwendolyn Dease – percussion
Luther Allison – drums on Who Compares To You

Steve Slagle

Steve Slagle Alto Sax
Jeremy Pelt Trumpet (on album but not tracks I play)
Clark Gayton Trombone (on Hunters Dream)
Bruce Barth Piano
Ugonna Okegwo Bass
Jason Tiemann (T-MAN) Drums

The Nascentia Suite and several other pieces on this recording came to me during the world-wide pandemic and with that, offered me time to envision something in music like a re-birth.The song ‘Nascentia’ was the first to come on March 30th 2020, with the world in lockdown, and the rest followed. In that sense,and with the help of a great 3-horn NYC band to bring this music to life,I feel what has come to fruition here is something ultimately very positive. It is my hope that you feel the same while listening to it.

Iain Sinclair

Iain Sinclair, a Welsh writer and filmmaker, has been fixated on the imaginary 25-year journey of a whalebone box for years. In this spoken word performance, Dark Before Dark becomes a meta-narrative telling the story of the story, and venturing to vivid, surreal landscapes where “place becomes time.” This is the sequel to Living With Buildings: And Walking With Ghosts (2018), published by Tangerine Press as the next chapter in his limited-edition volume. In 2019, Sinclair joined The London Experimental Ensemble to perform this work with extended dialogue and details written specifically for the performance. Recorded live in front of an audience, the piece is a gripping spoken word project, Sinclair’s spellbinding delivery accompanied by screeching strings, haunting piano, brass abstractions and disorienting electronic manipulation. The hour-long piece embodies what the Time Literary Supplement describes as Sinclair’s unique ability to suspend disbelief, “breath[ing] wondrous life into monstrous, mane-made landscapes.” Dark Before Dark will be available in digital and CD editions on April 30th 2021.

Album Credits:

John Eyles (saxophone), Tony Hardie-Bick (piano, electronics), Ken Ikeda (synthesiser), Daniel Kordik (synthesiser), Edward Lucas (trombone), Elo Masing (violin), Keisuke Matsui (electric guitar), N.O. Moore (guitarism), Jordan Muscatello (double bass), Ed Pettersen (8 string dobro), Emmanuelle Waeckerle (voice, amplified wooden flute), Mirei Yazawa (trumpet), Yifeat Ziv (voice), Iain Sinclair (narration)

Tony Malaby

I never had the opportunity to document this quartet, so I am happy that I can now share these live sets from Cornelia St. Cafe. At the time of these recordings, I was leading the groups Tamarindo, Apparitions, and Paloma Recio, as well as many sideman projects, several of which featured Ralph Alessi and John Hébert . The three of us were yearning for an outlet to stretch out in a casual, relaxed setting with no predetermined solo order, solo length or complicated road maps. When I was offered a weekend at Cornelia Street, I jumped at the chance and called Billy Drummond. I put together four books of tunes that were laying around the pad, mostly by peers such as Chris Lightcap, Angelica Sanchez, Dave Scott, Michael Attias, Eivind Opsvik, and Billy Mintz. We filled out the book with Ralph and John’s tunes, along with some Ornette, Frisell, Motian, and Sidney Bechet. At the time I called it “The Reading Band.” Drew Gress often subbed for Hébert . This group never played to an empty room
credits
released March 5, 2021

Tony Malaby – Tenor Saxophone
Ralph Alessi – Trumpet
John Hébert – Bass
Billy Drummond – Drums

Recorded by Scott Friedlander
Mastered by Eivind Opsvik
Cover Art by Tim Berne
Recorded Live at Cornelia St. Cafe on March 13, 2009