The changing of seasons brings new stress! September was back to school and back to lots of work, a time of change. Working on the blog fell by the wayside a bit, but now we’re back. To get through these changes, we played a lot of quiet music, but these albums reward close listening too. When intensity was needed, there was the new Henry Threadgill to turn to. Hope your Fall is going well!
TNB Pick!
Henry Threadgill – Poof
(released September 24, 2021)
Henry Threadgill – alto saxophone, flute, bass flute
Liberty Ellman – acoustic guitar
Jose Davila – tuba, trombone
Christopher Hoffman – cello
Elliot Humberto Kavee – drums
Finally after three years of waiting, Henry Threadgill is back! He picks up right where he left off on, employing his trademark complex rhythms, intense ensemble arrangements, and of course that tuba. As great as his music is, it’s even better that Threadgill plays on this one too – his alto sax sound is one of the miracles of music. If you don’t know Threadgill, this is as good a place as any to start – just play the first track “Come and Go” and you’ll know if your in or out.
Logan Strosahl with the Charles Rosen Ensemble – Book II of Arthur: Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
(released September 3, 2021- Sunnyside Records)
Logan Strosahl – alto saxophone, flute, clarinet
The Charles Rosen Ensemble:
Julija Bojarinaite – 1st flute
Aliya Vodovozova – 2nd flute
Sarah Young – oboe
Constance Morvan – clarinet
Laura Lorx – bassoon
Gil Barak – horn
Manuel Abreu – trumpet
Yezu Woo – 1st violin
Daniel Cho – 2nd violin
Julia Palecka – viola
Nina Behrends – cello
Francisca Sá Machado – bass
Leo Gerstner – drum set
Khadim Ndome – glockenspiel
Michael Cohen-Weissert – conductor
This album came to me entirely by chance when I was exploring Sunnyside’s excellent Bandcamp page. Some of the most delightful discoveries are unexpected. It’s inspired by the poem telling the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The description of the source poem equally describes the evocative music – “Ambiguity pervades the work: games, theatre, illusion, and cycles structure the plot, and characters have different sides that co-exist. Christian morality, pagan figures and symbolism, magic, romance, horror, and adventure are all synthesized in a story that in 2021 is still difficult to categorize.”
Nicholas Langley – Mbira Locations 2018-2020
(released July 12, 2021)
Field recordings like this help train our ears to appreciate the music in our “ordinary” environment. From the Bandcamp page: “Dandelion & Washing Line was a garden installation created during the quiet summer utilizing mbira, bodhran, portable turntable, cardboard tube, dandelion, ukulele, washing line, Yamaha Reface CS.” Wonderful.
Andrew Cyrille Quartet- The News
(Released August 27th, 2021 – ECM 2681)
Link to The News on Apple Music
Andrew Cyrille – Drums
Bill Frisell – Guitar
David Virelles – Piano, Syntzesizer
Ben Street – Double Bass
Cyrille creates an immersive sound world with his detailed and poised drumming, and with able sidemen Frisell, Virelles and Street. Virelles is the new band member here, and his piano solos spiral into these tunes like an able interlocutor. Lyrical and beautiful, The News has quietly made a big impression, and I’ve been coming back again and again.
Fuubutsushi Quartet – Natsukashii (懐かしい)
(released August 6, 2021; recorded in California, Illinois, Missouri, and Pennsylvania in Spring 2021)
Chris Jusell – violin, cello, vibraphone, marimba
Chaz Prymek – bass, guitars, strumstick, field recordings
Matthew Sage – keyboards, percussion, voice, harmonica,
moog matriarch, guitars
Patrick Shiroishi – alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, clarinet, glockenspiel, samples, voice, banjo, electronics
The eagerly anticipated fourth installment from the Fuubutsushi quartet! This, the last edition, captures the gentle radiance of late summer. The dynamics are somewhat more assertive than the prior editions (TNB covering those here) as befits musicians who’ve spent a year working (remotely) on these ideas. The four Fuubutsushi records will be companions to me for many future changes of the season.