Junk Magic

Craig Taborn

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 20, 2004)
• Original Release Date: April 20, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Thirsty Ear
• ASIN: B0001LYFQS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #66,467 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

there is no doubt that Craig Taborn will be on the improv A-list --one final note

Product Description

Craig Taborn's highly anticipated return to Thirsty Ear's Blue Series has arrived with Junk
Magic. For those already familiar with his formidable and adventurous skills as a keyboardist and composer, the exciting breadth of vision Taborn brings to Junk Magic will come as no surprise.

The musicians he has assembled for the album are no less exciting: drummer David King of the
Bad Plus, revered violist Mat Maneri, and tenor saxophonist Aaron Stewart, who has worked with Anthony Braxton and Steve Coleman.

Taborn's vision is impossible to nail down with Junk Magic he incorporates elements of
Detroit techno, abstract laptop electronica, breakbeat-influenced cut-up drum programming, mysterious ambience and, of course, masterful free jazz. Drawing on his experience recording with such artists as Detroit techno originator Carl Craig and avant-garde jazz composer Tim Berne,
Taborn manages to combine these elements into a whole that is astonishingly cohesive and
refreshingly concise. The result is possibly the most fully-realized union of jazz and electronics to date- its impact will be felt, and it certainly should not be missed.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Um, good, but not great., June 3, 2004

By	T. Klaase (Orange Park, Florida United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had real high hopes for this album but a lot of the music seems to miss the emotional points. It's a bit anticiptic. All technology and no heart... It comes thru at times, but more miss than hit.

Try Guillermo Brown's "Soul at the hands of the machine" from the same 'blue series' thirsty ear label to get the emotion with the technology... Guillermo's album is truly revolutionary and amazing...

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Avant-jazz of the highest order, May 12, 2004

By	Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I love these oxymoronic titles, don't you?

The obvious question is, Which is it, junk or magic? But why does it have to be one-or-the-other? Why not both?

Indeed, why not?

And I think it is. It's "junk" in that it's not "classic." Maybe it's even "anti-classic" (whatever that is). That is, it pretty much plays by its own rules, not following bebop, hard-bop, post-bop, or free-bop. What else would you expect with bad (plus) boy David King sitting in the drums chair?

It's magic in that the goings-on are pretty special. What we've got here is something scarcely heard before. Thus, it's "magic" sheerly by being "unique." But it's also magic by being beguiling.

One of the things that makes this disc magic is its use of electronics, a vital, even essential feature of its fascinating sound signature. Take the first number, the title cut, "Junk Magic." The MO's pretty much out on the table for all to see: It starts with slow, dreamy sax and a static keyboard figure, setting a mood of soporific haze, when, suddenly, weird electronics creep in, along with a thudding drum figure. All-at-once we're in an altered state, an alien soundscape, with industrial thumps and Paradise Lost. But you know what? It's all somehow weirdly consonant with the preceding vibe, and it makes its own kind of crazy sense (with Redemption lurking in the shadows?).

Once broached, the electronics are front-and-center pretty much from here on out; once the cat's out of the bag, no sense in playing it coy. Thus, "Mystero," the next cut. Ringing, bell-like electronic tones; bass drones, sax moans, drum groans, all in some kinda Kubla Khan gamelon crazy-world.

And so on.

Pretty magical, methinks.

For me, this represents the apogee of Thirsty Ear's Blue Series gropings (not entirely successful, it must be admitted)--thoroughly modern, but with a kind of surefootedness and je ne sais quoi one is always relieved to encounter among the avant-garde.

I for one am willing to forgive any number of clunkers (and the Blue Series has been saddled with its share lately) for music of this transcendent, translucent, transmogrified gloriousness.

Must be believed to be heard.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Music, June 27, 2009

By	Big A (Bodrum, Turkey) - See all my reviews

This is tantalisingly complex, but highly satisfying music BECAUSE it is emotionally intriguing, unlike Guillermo E. Brown's 'Soul At The Hands Of The Machine', which one of the reviewers refers to. By comparison the latter is repetitive techno-babble. Junk Magic, like David Torn's Prezens, on which Craig Taborn also plays, is way ahead of lots of music that purports to be contemporary, even avant-garde, because the players really know their music - they're not just making sounds and hoping for a mood or an effect. Don't be put off. Check it out. It will open your ears wide.