Customer Reviews

Flamethrower

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Flamethrower, the Chicago Underground duo/trio/quartet takes on a new face as guitarist Jeff Parker (tortoise, isotope 217, tricolor, New Horizons Ensemble) joins up and brings to the table his wandering melodic style. It fits in perfectly with Rob Mazurek's cornet, and produces some of the finest music I've heard from the group. Although there are 4 musicians on the record they rotate in a way in which there are only 3 people playing at a time, thus it is called a trio. The use of electronics and synthesis is still there to widen the spectrum of sound, but Flamethrower seems to rely more on post-bop composition and improvisation than some of their other recordings. I definately recommend this to anyone looking for real new direction in modern jazz music.

This group has basically the same line up as Isotope 217. Yes, Jeff Parker (Tortoise guitarist) is now an official fourth member of the trio ?! Wacky.

On this album the shorter pieces are like mini-electronic symphonettes and the longer pieces are swingin' jazz quartet numbers. If the up-tempo tunes aren't catchy in a swingin' post-bop vein ("Warm Marsh"), then they are more tumultuous in a VERY Sun Ra-esque way ("Number 19"). Although sans the silly space chants, of course. Nice to hear them playing with their Chicago / AACM jazz heritage.

Fans of interesting jazz trumpet playing that were disappointed by the lacking presence of Rob Mazurek's cornet on the recent Isotope 217 album will be delighted with this one. Long drawn out Miles Davis influenced passages are contrasted with his more splintery Don Cherry like playing on the free-er pieces. And Jeff's guitar playing is all over this album too, lots of solo space for him on this one. His transition from melodic post-bop linear soloing to the frenzied textural free playing on the first cut "Quail" is breathtaking.

I highly recommended this to jazz fans that are looking for something that?s swinging but still modern and forward thinking.

Right off the bat, the four-piece Chicago Underground Trio (?) this time around show their range. "Quail," the first track, starts off like standard jazz with Jeff Parker playing in his best Wes Montgomery guitar tone. But before the song is up, things start to get whacked out.

Chances are, if you know Rob Mazurek, the Chicago Underground, Jeff Parker, and their various offshoots, you know these guys dwell on the fringes. The cool thing about an album like "Flamethrower" is that it fully takes advantage of its 65 minutes, sprawling into every corner that experimental jazz will allow

For instance, the title track lives up to its name when Mazurek sputters his trumpet in intermittent blasts. "Triceptikon" throws many conventions out the window in just three minutes. "A Lesson Earned" takes its time, riding a steady drum build like it was made by companion band Tortoise. And "Number 9" answers the question `what if post rock and hard bop had a head-on collision'?

I don't own all of Mazurek's recordings. As of this writing, I'm only really familiar with "Possible Cube" and I gotta say, I like this one better. For what that's worth.

En este disco, Chicago Underground Trio nos permite descubrir una extraña belleza que subyace en el caos. A través de un constante oscilamiento entre diversas tensiones, pasamos de lo más duro, áspero, creado por la superposición azarosa de melodías y ruidos, a paisajes reflexivos apenas dibujados por un par de notas, a bondadosas melodías casi infantiles o a los ritmos claramente marcados y obsesivamente repetidos de lo que podría ser un tema de jazz tradicional. Hay aquí un excelente trabajo a nivel tímbrico: se busca mostrar sonidos poco explorados a través del uso del arco para el contrabajo, las sordinas, los ruidos electrónicos, etc., para profundizar la diversidad de melodías generalmente inconexas y de fraseo bastante ilógico. Por otra parte, conviven aquí temas de una extensa duración, en los cuales hay secciones con ambientes muy distintos, donde los músicos extienden toda su creatividad y, por otra part, hay miniaturas de menos de un minuto, donde la contención y la precisión son la regla. Éste es un esfuerzo musical que se acerca mucho (además del jazz, la improvisación libre, la electrónica, el post-rock, etc.) a la música contemporánea, y es en ese sentido que las calificaciones de desorden, disarmonía, etc., no son negativas sino positivas. Pues, en definitiva, se agradece esta constante búsqueda a lo largo de todas las canciones por atreverse a desarmar los fundamentos de un acompañamiento de contrabajo y batería, buscar tantas posibilidades sonoras, atreverse a superponer y negar tantas melodías.

In the tradition of the Art Ensemble, this four-man "trio" is making headway in wresting jazz out of New York's vice-like grip. By this I mean that while most of the great jazz after Louis Armstong came from New York, that same city has, in recent years, produced very little that is fresh or new.

The best of the "Chicago Underground" settings, the Trio takes an approach of musical "wholeness", drawing from straight-ahead jazz, free jazz, art-noise, and electronic music, but blending these seamlessly rather than simply mashing them together. They take their approach from the jazz tradition, but use sounds from all over the sonic pallette, rather than just traditional instruments.

Of the two "Trio", two "Duo" and one "Orchestra" recordings to be released, this is by far the strongest. Guitarist Jeff Parker's stronger presence on this album fills out the groups sound nicely, and adds an edge that the last release "Possible Cube" lacked.

The Trio is at its best when it sticks to some semblance of form. Its free explorations sometimes get a little pedestrian, or resort to free jazz cliches. But in spite of this, I give the album five stars, because this is the most promising jazz-related group that I have heard in a long time.

I got this at a pawnshop for 3 bucks used... I've always had sort of a passing interest in jazz, but never really owned any albums, I couldnt really tell you much about the style and really I only know of miles davis and john coltraine and a select few others mostly because their names are dropped alot. I thought this album would be a good place to start.

I have to say though... this is kind of a hard listen, actually scratch that, it makes the dillinger escape plan seem pretty listenable by comparison (I doubt that any of the crowd this album caters to know who they are but check the reviews on amazon) one of my gripes with this album, is that these guys will be on the verge of something just explosive, and all the sudden they just do something else... if they would ride out some of the groves more, it would be a much more satisfying listen for me.

I dont know if my tastes arent "uncommercial" enough to enjoy this, but I think that it may just be that these guys dont emphasis that much on songwriting. there are a few moments though, even if they last about 3 seconds that DO grab me, and when they do I enjoy this album alot, although I find myself missing those segments when the rest of the song leaves them behind.

Its not that I dont like this album... but I havent really been in the right mood to enjoy avante garde jazz. on another note I noticed that the guitar player is from tortoise though and he fits really well I should add...

I want to like this alot, I'm going to have to give it a few more listens and see if I can wrap my mind around it more, I dont know how I should feel about this exactly.