Why do jazz musicians make pathetically anemic sounds when they turn their talents to popular music? Otherwise exemplary improvisational musicians are invariably inept in rock, pop, R&B and hip-hop contexts. Happily, there are exceptions to the rule. Candid is a recent instance. Five vaunted heroes of underground music- Tim Berne, David Torn, Marc Ducret, Devin Hoff and Ches Smith- successfully meld post-punk noise with free jazz on the 71-minute album. Mean and dirty, Candid is what might have resulted had Peter Brötzmann been a founding member of Sonic Youth or what might happen if Mats Gustafsson sat in with Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Affiliates of the jazz police and punk purists will be repelled, but tracks like "Craw" are as natural as they are necessary.
Album Review: Ava Mendoza- Echolocation
Conventional wisdom would have people believe that jazz and punk are diametrically opposed forms of music. The transgressive spirit of the two forms are actually the same. As a teenager swept up in the initial punk revolution, Television’s Marquee Moon and Miles Davis’ Dark Magus seemed like two sides of the same coin when the albums were released in 1977. Both recordings sound like precursors to Echolocation, the new album by guitarist Ava Mendoza, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, bassist Devin Hoff and drummer Ches Smith. The quartet fuses raw metallic power with free improvisation on the crunchy Echolocation.
May 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency
Screenshot of soprano Sara Blanch in the trailer of the Donizetti Opera Festival’s staging of Gaetano Donzetti’s La fille du régiment by There Stands the Glass.
Top Ten Albums (Released in May, excluding 5/27 titles)
1. Mary Halvorson- Belladonna
2. Ches Smith- Interpret It Well
3. Bad Bunny- Un Verano Sin Ti
Summer soundtrack sorted.
4. Leikeli47- Shape Up
Fit.
5. John Scofield- John Scofield
Sublime solo set.
6. Shabaka- Afrikan Culture
Hushed Hutchings.
7. Daniel Villarreal- Panamá 77
International Anthem indeed.
8. Mary Halvorson- Amaryllis
My review of the companion album.
9. Andris Nelsons- Strauss
10. Kendrick Lamar- Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
The transformation of King Kendrick into Captain Obvious is a hard pill to swallow.
Top Ten Songs (released in May)
1. Charles Stepney- “Daddy’s Diddies”
My favorite sound.
2. Tank and the Bangas with Lalah Hathaway and Jacob Collier-
Fulfillingness’ second finale.
3. Becky G- "Kill Bill"
Dead.
4. Dougie B- “I’m Back”
Bumpin’ me against the wall.
5. Flee Lord with Mephux- "Out the Mud"
True grit.
6. Hollie Cook- “Happy Hour”
Red Stripe special.
7. Ty Segall- “Saturday Pt. 2”
A stroll in Itchycoo Park.
8. Belle and Sebastian- "Do It for Your Country"
Ask not.
9. Flora- "Hey"
Ya.
10. Kevin Morby- “A Coat of Butterflies”
Hallelujah.
Top Ten Performances of May (and the last weekend of April)
1. Little Joe y La Familia at the Guadalupe Center
2. Samantha Ege at the Folly Theater
3. Logan Richardson + Blues People at the Ship
4. High Pulp at the recordBar
5. Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason at the Folly Theater
6. The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s “Tosca” at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
7. Kind Folk at the Black Box
8. Drew Williams, Brandon Cooper and Seth Andrew Davis at Charlotte Street Foundation
9. Brian Scarborough Quintet at Westport Coffee House
10. Guitar Elation at Green Lady Lounge
The dueling guitars of Brian Baggett and Danny Embrey.
Last month’s survey is here.
Doomsday Jazz: The End Times Improvisations of Oren Ambarchi and Ches Smith
The majority of Earth-bound humans would opt for one of two obvious courses of action should they be given sufficient warning the end is nigh. Some might choose bacchanalian indulgence and lawless decadence. Ches Smith has them covered.
Interpret It Well, the unsettling new album by the innovative percussionist, conveys the sense of nausea induced by existential excess. Three distinguished accomplices- violist Mat Maneri, guitarist Bill Frisell and pianist Craig Taborn- enable Smith’s queasy course.
Even idealistic listeners are likely to associate Ghosted with abhorrently riveting experiences such as driving past a ghastly car accident or spending Saturday night in the waiting room of an overtaxed emergency room.
Preparing for destruction will inspire others to summon a higher power. The inventive guitarist Oren Ambarchi’s hypnotic new album with bassist Johan Berthling and percussionist Andreas Werliin might serve as a nonsectarian hymn.
The successful melding of Malian folk music, the Islamic adhan, Indian classical music and Terry Riley-style minimalism suggests that Ghosted is the ultimate rarity: a good “world music” album. In truth, the trio creates interstellar jazz.
Two extraordinary music videos interpret the differing apocalyptic perspectives. Ambarchi’s "II" consists of everyday scenes of nature. "Protect Your Home", a short film depicting literal doomsday scenarios, is set to the title track of Interpret It Well.