Nu Soul Zodiac

Goldsparkle Trio | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 11, 2001)
• Original Release Date: March 15, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Squealer
• ASIN: B00004RJP4
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #561,300 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Nu Millennium Waltz

2. Other Anthem

3. Motor City Fugue

4. The Aleph

5. Fellowship

6. Double Bump

7. Promises of Democracy

8. Splintered Synapse

9. Borges

10. Soul Zodiac

11. Carousel Lost

Editorial Reviews

From Jazziz

The latest release from the "Gold Sparkle Band" threatens to become a leaden handcuff around the innovative wrists of Ornette Coleman, who once remarked: "My playing is spontaneous, not a style. A style happens when your phrasing hardens." Reedplayer Charles Waters, trumpeter Roger V. Ruzow, bassist Adam Roberts, and drummer Andrew D. Barker seem to harden the sound of Coleman's classic free jazz. They verge on becoming something paradoxical: a repertory band for avant-garde music. But through a combination of tactful musical navigation and outright burning intensity, they produce fresh, vital possibilities using the formulas of post-bop's original breakthroughs. Originally from Atlanta, now based in New York (save Ruzow), the members of the "Gold Sparkle Band" search for inspiration in the established liberation of vintage free jazz. Waters calls down Coltrane's sheets of sound on "Nu Millennium Waltz"; Ruzow explores the somber reticence of certain A.A.C.M. pieces in his composition "Promises of Democracy"; Barker's drumming drives the quartet to new heights - especially in his interplay with Waters - and summons by turns the majestic pulse of Elvin Jones and the frittering energy of Sonny Murray. But as they hover in the alchemist's study of canonized post-bop, poking around among the sacred texts, ancient instruments, and cabinets of wonder, the "Gold Sparkle Band's" music begins to roil and transmute. Their own voices emerge - Waters' leaderly insouciance, Ruzow's darting interjections, Roberts' hard, precise swing, Barker's ebullient percussive commentary. The old equations of free jazz become vehicles for the group's own spontaneity.

--- Michael Kramer, JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Open your ears and GSB will open your mind, September 8, 2000

By 

Richard B. Downing (hudson, Florida USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nu Soul Zodiac (Audio CD)

The Gold Star Band will just not let up. This, their third CD, is so tight, so open, so incredibly well played. Jazz? I guess. Free jazz? Some of it. Ensemble playing? A lot, but also great solos. Charlie Waters' reeds continue to amaze, but who doesn't on this CD. The addition of Kim Lemonde's cello on three cuts is welcome. More of that of CD #4 I hope. Trumpet's not my instrument of choice normally, but Roger Ruzow could change my mind. He and Waters keep up "intensity with taste" - a rare combo. And Baker and Roberts' rhythm section pushes and supports and pushes and supports and...hey, just focus on bass and drums and you'll like the CD. The only weak link is the band's name (Gold Sparkle?) If Kenny G. is your idea of jazz, pass on this. If, say, Ken Vandermark or Ellery Eskelin provide the challenges you have to have in music, then order Nu Soul and listen to it, then listen to it again. And again. And marvel at how it continues to reveal itself more each time. Then take a break only long enough to buy Downsizing and Earthmover (in that order).