Burning Ambulance

March 12, 2012

Hank Williams III, aka Hank3, is playing a free show at New York’s Gramercy Theatre (127 East 23rd Street) on Saturday, March 17. He’ll be performing exclusively metal material, unlike most of his shows, which mix metal, outlaw country and psychobilly. Doors open at 8 PM, and drinks are free in the downstairs bar. To get in, you can either RSVP at eventbrite.com, or leave your name in comments below. We’re giving away guaranteed admission for two (one winner, two tickets). The giveaway ends Wednesday, so enter now! Good luck!

Tags: burning ambulance, free stuff, gramercy theatre, hank williams iii, hank3

March 9, 2012

Echoes of Indiana Avenue (Resonance)

by Phil Freeman

Buy it from Amazon

I’ve only recently started listening to Wes Montgomery (who would have turned 89 this past Tuesday). My knowledge of jazz guitar in general is pretty limited—I love Grant Green, Joe Morris and Sonny Sharrock, three players who couldn’t really be more different from one another, but there are dozens of other notables and even legends whose work has just never made it to my ears. Only so many hours in the day, after all. Still, when I was sent last year’s five-CD box, Movin’: The Complete Verve Recordings, I dove in up to my neck.

That’s not the period of Montgomery’s career that’s placed in the highest regard by fans, I understand. His Riverside recordings of the late ’50s and early ’60s, with which I remain unfamiliar, are judged to be his peak. Still, there’s plenty of hot stuff on Movin‘. The album Movin’ Wes is a terrific blend of stinging guitar and full, rich big-band/orchestral arrangements, for example, and the material done in partnership with organist Jimmy Smith can also be pretty killer at times. The albums that followed Movin’ Wes, though, many of which juxtaposed standards with watery versions of pop tunes of the time like “California Dreamin’,” “Goin’ Out of My Head,” “What the World Needs Now is Love,” and even “Tequila,” are substantially weaker variations on the theme. The orchestral arrangements become simultaneously blander and more overbearing, and even Montgomery seems dispirited at times.

Echoes of Indiana Avenue, though, is a very different thing. A single disc of material – some studio, some live – recorded in 1957 and 1958, before he had even signed with Riverside, it includes versions of eight jazz standards by Horace Silver, Erroll Garner, Thelonious Monk (both “Round Midnight” and “Straight No Chaser” are essayed here), Billy Strayhorn and Shorty Rogers, as well as versions of “Darn That Dream” and “Body and Soul,” plus one improvised blues to close things out. It’s energetic, hard-swinging material, played by groups that, one one track (the version of “Straight No Chaser”), include Montgomery’s two brothers, pianist Buddy and bassist Monk. Four cuts – “Diablo’s Dance,” “Round Midnight,” “Nica’s Dream” and “Darn That Dream” – are studio takes, presumably (though nobody really knows for sure) recorded as demos to help the guitarist get a deal, which he did, with Pacific Jazz, in 1958. The others, including the performance by the three brothers, are all live and, again, of more or less unknown origin and purpose. They’re listed here as being from the Hub-Bub, a black club in Indianapolis. The group – pianist Earl Van Riper, bassist Mingo Jones and drummer Sonny Johnson – burns through a fast, stark version of “Take the ‘A’ Train,” then simmer through two ballads in a row, “Misty” and “Body and Soul,” before closing out the disc with a drumless blues improvisation (during which the drummer takes a break). Throughout, Montgomery’s attack and tone are much more fierce than he ever musters on the recordings I’m familiar with, and his solos on what’s called “After Hours Blues” and “Body and Soul” in particular get quite stinging, at times recalling the near punk-rock explosiveness of Chuck Berry‘s classic recordings. Sure, the relatively primitive recording conditions give the music an extra edge, but there’s a raucous, late-night energy in the playing that’s both overpowering and impossible to resist (as can be heard from the enthusiastic, vocal crowd response to both the guitar and piano solos).

This shouldn’t be anyone’s first Montgomery purchase, by any means. But it’s much more than a footnote to his discography, and it’s certainly inspired me to continue exploring his work.

Tags: billy strayhorn, buddy montgomery, burning ambulance, chuck berry, earl van riper, erroll garner, grant green, horace silver, jimmy smith, joe morris, mingo jones, monk montgomery, phil freeman, shorty rogers, sonny johnson, sonny sharrock, thelonious monk, wes montgomery

March 7, 2012

On September 15, 2011, Einstürzende Neubauten, Wire and Caspar Brötzmann Massaker performed a concert as part of the Berlin Live series. It was filmed, and aired, in edited form, on the ZDFKultur 3 channel on December 3 of last year. And now it’s on YouTube. Enjoy!

Songs performed, in order:

Einstürzende Neubauten
Let’s Do It A Dada!
Sabrina
Susej

Caspar Brötzmann Massaker
The Tribe

Wire
Smash
Clay
Please Take

Einstürzende Neubauten
Die Befindlichkeit Des Landes
Total Eclipse of the Sun

Caspar Brötzmann Massaker
Massaker

Wire
Moreover

Wire + Einstürzende Neubauten
Drill/Vox Populi

Tags: burning ambulance, caspar brotzmann massaker, einsturzende neubauten, wire

March 3, 2012

by Izalia Roncallo

Above, L-R: Yvonne Estrada, LD6-07; Anna Atkins, Himanthalia Lorea; Eduardo Souto de Moura, Silo Norte Shopping

In recent years, drawing has assumed an expanded and more independent role in the art world. For a long time, drawing was seen by many as a transitional phase in the creative process, leading to the eventual production of a larger piece, for example a painting or a sculpture. But today, drawings’ subjects are not limited to figures or landscapes; in fact, it seems that contemporary drawing is fascinated with dealing with the nature or essence of drawing itself. In Yvonne Estrada’s recent works, collectively titled Blue, abstract ultramarine and cobalt forms are produced that have a painterly element to them. The painterly element of this group of images comes from the use of blue gouache and watercolor, in some cases running down the image in streaks. Multiple drawing instruments are employed—graphite, felt and ballpoint pens—while techniques like crosshatching, contour lines, circles and scribbles create dimension, tonal value and texture, features generally associated with drawing. The gestural markings are simple and layered from thick to thin lines to build up a biomorphic image. Estrada is crossing media boundaries with her combinations of painting and drawing methods.

At times, her abstract forms are organic, and may resemble a flower bud or a leaf. In a way, the images are reminiscent of cyanotypes, not only because of the strong use of blue but also because of cyanotypes’ early history as a way to depict organic specimens. For a counterexample, look at the images of Anna Atkins. Atkins’ technique makes details lessen, so the image is an outline of the flora. This is not the case with Estrada, however, whose forms are not necessarily flowers or leaves—in fact, they are complex abstract shapes with intricate detail. In an interview with Stephanie Buhmann for The Villager, Estrada explained that the blue of these works is a nod to architectural blueprints.

“I always wanted to work with architectural blueprints, as I love their powdery, purplish blue lines,” she said. “In some ways these works reflect my affinity for these documents.”

But there are no rectilinear forms to see in her work; the only evidence of a blueprint is the way all forms connect to one another on the paper, creating a cohesive shape. Still, while Estrada’s images are abstract and at times have an unfinished quality about them, there is order to the chaos, even if her shapes look randomly placed. Every spot, stain, smear or streak Estrada makes is calculated. A large work can take up to six months to a year to complete.

In one way or another, everyone has participated in the medium of drawing; still, to see the theme of nature explored in a different way is always appealing. The labor-intensive shapes of Estrada’s Blue present an intimate and personal view of nature that is much appreciated after the development of construction teams working on images together, as in the drawings emanating from Robert Longo’s studio. No matter what style of drawing the viewer may enjoy, there is something for everyone since the medium is unrestricted, and this is a reason drawing is filling up museum and gallery walls. Yvonne Estrada’s work represents just one more way that drawing is developing.

Yvonne Estrada

Von Lintel Gallery

Tags: anna atkins, blueprint, burning ambulance, contemporary drawing, cyanotype, eduardo souto de moura, izalia roncallo, robert longo, von lintel gallery, yvonne estrada

March 1, 2012

The Eleventh Hour (Sunnyside)

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by Phil Freeman

Philadelphia-based drummer Johnathan Blake makes his debut as a leader with this collection of modern post-bop tunes. The imagery of gears (taken from an antique watch) that adorns the front and back covers, as well as the disc itself, is apt, as Blake is a rock-steady timekeeper whose hi-hat ticks relentlessly through tracks like “Rio’s Dream” and the opening title track, even as he throws in subtle yet attention-getting adornments to the primary beat. All but three of the tunes are his, as well; “Dexter’s Tune” is by Randy Newman, “Blue News” is by trumpeter Tom Harrell (who’s employed Blake before, and who guests on that cut and one other), and the album’s closing track, “Canvas,” is by keyboardist Robert Glasper, who likewise makes three appearances—on “The Eleventh Hour,” his own piece, and “Time to Kill.” There are two other guests present: Grégoire Maret plays harmonica on the first and last cuts, and Tim Warfield plays tenor sax on “No Left Turn.” The core band, though, could honestly have gotten by with no guests at all, as they repeatedly demonstrate: it’s built around a front line of alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, joined by keyboardist (piano and Fender Rhodes) Kevin Hays and bassist Ben Street. All these men have long-established reputations in the current jazz scene, and they play extremely well together, with the suppleness of a working band and no unseemly jostling for the spotlight.

If this album has a flaw, it’s that it’s occasionally a touch too smooth—not in the sense of smooth jazz, though some of Harrell’s flugelhorn passages on “Time to Kill” get a little Chuck Mangione-esque at times—and unwilling to throw real surprises at the listener. There are some exciting turnarounds, and Blake knows how to throw a grenade-like fill into the middle of a passage to keep players from coasting, but the melodies are frequently too singsong, lacking the force of the rhythm that underpins them. Everyone is genteel, even when they’re aiming to burn out, as on “Of Things to Come,” which strives for the intensity of John Coltrane but winds up closer to the more glib, knowing territory of Branford Marsalis. (That in itself isn’t a bad thing, of course; Marsalis and his various bands have proven more than capable of raising a listener’s pulse, and Blake’s group does the same.)

“Of Things to Come” is also notable for being the only keyboard-less track, bringing bassist Street to the fore. That’s a welcome adjustment—his tone is forceful and his presence assertive, without being overly dominant in the mix or the arrangement. And the album’s longest track, “Freefall,” allows the group to erupt into the roiling freedom they deny themselves throughout much of the rest of the disc, particularly Hays, who takes a killer, extended piano solo as Blake hammers the kit behind him.

The Eleventh Hour may be slightly overlong at nearly 70 minutes, and it may feature too many guest appearances, thus distracting from the core band’s individual skills and empathetic group playing, but it’s a serious debut full of music worth hearing more than once. And while it’s firmly within the modern post-bop tradition, it’s both conventionally melodic and rhythm-focused enough to appeal to an audience consisting of more than just other jazz musicians.

Here’s the title track:

Tags: ben street, branford marsalis, burning ambulance, chuck mangione, gregoire maret, jaleel shaw, john coltrane, johnathan blake, kevin hays, mark turner, phil freeman, randy newma