Flute Madness

A week or so ago I named Anat Cohen as my personal pick for the should-be winner of the Downbeat Critics' Poll rising star composer category; after having heard "Black Unstoppable" and "Xenogenesis Suite," Nicole Mitchell's two most recent albums, I've changed my mind. Like Vijay Iyer, the perennial winner, Mitchell's compositions grapple with the idea of total freedom versus through-composed standard fare, and come out somewhere between the two. Mitchell is often confused for a full-on free jazz musician, and after hearing her odd sounds on "Xenogenesis Suite" I can understand this impulse. That said, however, for every freak-out on either album, there is another tune that approaches funk, or falls somewhere completely uncharted in the jazz world.

"Black Unstoppable," the more straight-ahead of Mitchell's two most recent albums, still finds ample time to devote to her crazier side. The title track, "Black Unstoppable," is also the most out there, containing some odd extended technique-work from Mitchell herself. The best tracks, however, are the ones in which guitar-player Jeff Parker gets to show off. Luckily, however, that describes about half of the album. Parker is turning into something of a Chicago Nels Cline (or perhaps Nels Cline is a west-coast Jeff Parker), playing as a sideman on a random smattering of brilliant free jazz coming out of Chicago (Matana Roberts' "The Chicago Project," for example) and working with a rock band (the great instrumental post-rock group Tortoise). Of course the biggest star on the album is Mitchell's compositional ability; moving from the up-tempo funk opener "Cause and Effect" to vocal blues work-outs like "Love Has No Boundaries" and "Thanking the Universe" to crazy jams like "Navigator." Highly recommended for those who want to get into Mitchell's music.

"Xenogenesis Suite," although more than a little bit avant garde, will serve as a treat for anyone who loves free jazz or Mitchell's body of work. Based on a novel by science fiction author Octavia Butler, the suite sounds almost totally free upon first listen. After a few listens, however, it becomes apparent that Mitchell not only knows what she is doing, but is just as interested in creating a work that stands up track-by-track as she is in creating free music. While there are clearly sections that employ group improvisation as a device, these sections are clearly cued in some sense; even the clearly composed movements- "Before and After" and "Dawn of a New Life-" have a sense of free abandon to them. Recommended for those who love free jazz or Nicole Mitchell, or both.

I would like to apologize for the consistent lateness of this blog (I used to try and write every two days, now it's turning into more like every three or so); I recently started writing a column for the Scarsdale Inquirer and for the past day I've been swamped (I was planning on writing this yesterday but was hit with a deadline). In all honesty, I'm living day to day and have no idea what my next post will be about... maybe Marc Ribot and Ceramic Dog? Perhaps "What To Do Past the Days of Artistic Relevance," the new album from Wynton N' Willie? I have no idea. Check back in 2-3 days.

Eigsti Needs to Pack His Knives and Go; Roberts Hits the Nail on the Head

Do you ever wish that Top Chef were about jazz instead of food? Well, I do. Just imagine, a bunch of young, up-and-coming jazz musicians duking it out for some sort of meaningless title... Who would come out on top? Would it be Walter Smith III, with his updates of old school hard-bop? Or would it be Robert Glasper, the brilliant young piano player who, after working with Mos Def, has perfected a mix of contemporary odd-meter R&B with older jazz? I hadn't heard of (let alone heard anything by) Matana Roberts until a few weeks ago when I read about her new "Chicago Project;" after listening to that album a couple times, I think she could be a wild-card in this kind of competition. After hearing "Let it Come to You," however, I think its time for Taylor Eigsti to get kicked out so he can go home, take what he's learned, and work on his craft.

Its not that "Let it Come to You" is a bad album; he plays well, his ideas are pretty good, and his band (Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland, and fellow prodigy Julian Lage) is great throughout. That said, after hearing Eigsti say a billion times that he doesn't want to be judged as a prodigy, he just can't stand up next to contemporaries like Glasper and Jason Moran. The problem is more conceptual than anything else; as I just said, he plays well and his ideas are pretty good. His work just isn't innovative; anyone who's heard Brad Mehldau's "Anything Goes" has heard Eigsti's take on standards. His originals, however, are pretty good (particularly the "Fall Back Plan" suite towards the end of the album) if not stellar. Eigsti has a great album in his future whenever he finds his voice as a piano player, but he just isn't there yet.

Matana Roberts' "The Chicago Project" is one of the best albums so far this year; its completely different from any of the other records from young people ("Karibu," "Prelude: To Cora," "Let it Come to You") that are getting a lot of press right now. While a large part of that has to do with influence (very few young musicians are so blatantly influenced by 60s free jazz), Roberts has a very distinctive voice. Her wide vibrato (barely heard from musicians since Albert Ayler) and her clearly AACM-influenced compositions just sound different from anything else coming out right now. Take the three "Birdhouse" tracks, for example; each one is a different duet with tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson, and the interplay between the two is practically telepathic. These totally free duets show the thought-process behind this album more than any of the composed heads; Roberts is more interested in interplay and improvisation than composed work. Highly recommended for those with curious ears.

I don't know exactly what I'm gonna have next time to be honest; maybe a review of Tom Scott's new album "Cannon Re-Loaded," or of the new reissue of Marc Feldman's "Music for Violin Alone..." Probably not a double review though, they have nothing in common. Also, as always, feel free to comment if you love Taylor Eigsti and think I can suck it! You may be wrong, but as long as the "comment" button is there, you're welcome to embarrass yourself in this forum.