Paul Dunmall & Chris Corsano – Identical Sunsets

Best known for his collaborations with people like Paul Flaherty, Michael Flower and Thurston Moore as well as a year-and-a-half stint as the drummer for Björk’s Volta tour, Chris Corsano is widely considered to be one of the best and most adaptive drummers of his generation. Equally adaptive is UK saxophone giant, Paul Dunmall, who has worked disparately with jazz greats like Alice Coltrane and Evan Parker as well as funk and folk acts like Johnny Guitar Watson and Dando Shaft.

After a chance meeting in a taxi line at the Lisbon Airport, a surreal intertwining of tours emanated. In between the lasers, confetti and face-painted fans at Plymouth Pavillions and Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Chris left the Björk mega-tour to get down to business alongside the prolific and imaginative Dunmall for some vital improvisation at Slak Bar in Cheltenham, England.

This wonderfully recorded live set begins with Dunmall swirling away on the border pipes (he may be the preeminent improvisor using bagpipes). What follows is an impulsive and lyrical improvisation, alternatingly sparse and impossibly textured. Corsano’s skittering marries perfectly with Dunmall’s rapid-fire lines. The melodies are expertly uncoiled so that they remain charged whether the tempo is at full speed or crawling. The set ends furiously and with the impression that this duo was fated to work together.

Personnel: Paul Dunmall ( tenor saxophone, border pipes) Chris Corsano (drums)

Sonny Simmons – Staying on the Watch

The noted west coast composer made his ESP debut accompanied by his then wife, Barbara Donald, on trumpet, Teddy Smith on bass, John Hicks on piano and Marvin Pattillo on percussion. Recorded August 1966, Staying on the Watch is an important infusion of straight-ahead and avant jazz. Barbara Donald is a superb trumpeter who has made a strident contribution to the legacy of women performers and has been widely written about. Also, pianist John Hicks, who makes his New York debut on the record, went on to become one of the most prolific pianists in jazz.

Personnel: Barbara Donald (trumpet) Sonny Simmons (alto sax) John Hicks (piano) Teddy Smith (bass) Marvin Pattillo (percussion)

William Hooker Trio – Yearn for Certainty

“Building a masterful solo as revenge, as fuel to the scheme of dreaming.” – William Hooker

It is too simplistic to categorize William Hooker as a fiery drummer who constantly explores structure and genre. As evidenced by the quote above from the spoken piece at the end of this recording, William’s playing is connected to an emotional world and the world at large. Bookended by two spoken word pieces, ‘Ingratiated Beam – Leroy’ and ‘Yearn for Certainty’, the title refers to the desire to know specifically and certainly how the world is to evolve forward. In between there is the down home banjo/sax of ‘Century’s Soles’, the rainy bluster of ‘Commonplace Travels’, and the drum solo-clarinet solo-trio explosion of ‘Magistrait.’ Joined by multi-instrumentalists David Soldier (classical guitar, banjo, mandolin, and violin) and Sabir Mateen (saxophone, flute, and clarinet) the William Hooker Trio is both tender and thunderous on Yearn for Certainty.

Personnel: William Hooker (drums, spoken word) David Soldier (mandolin, banjo, violin) Sabir Mateen saxophone, flute, clarinet)

Yuganaut – Sharks

Calling the three members of Yuganaut “multi-instrumentalists” is a little too easy. What is needed is some kind of word that would connote being multiple bands. Between them they could be a small brass group, an electric chamber ensemble or a straight-ahead jazz trio. But such formal confines may not leave room for the moments of playfulness or the passages of spacey psychedelia that sneak in between their evocative and highly original sounds. Between them, band members Stephen Rush, Tom Abbs and Geoff Mann play Fender Rhodes and Moog synthesizer; trumpet, trombone and tuba; bass, cello and violin; and drums, toys and didgeridoo. Does that sound streamlined?
Their previous release also included mandolin, euphonium and vibes.

More important than the listing of implements is the fact that the three gentlemen of Yuganaut are more than conscientious about leaving room in the music, not just for each other but to let the music grow. Between them they can boast of Reggie Workman’s tutelage, performance with the Warsaw National Symphony and membership in the Fela-inspired Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra. Which is to say there is tradition, formalism, groove and a sense of fun at play. They are at core, perhaps, a jazz band; but being a jazz band means (or should mean) that anything is possible. There’s ritual, there’s storytelling, they’re contemplative, extrapolative, expressive, even impressive. Yuganaut is not here to be pigeon-holed. They’re just here to play for you.

Yuganaut’s first album, This Musicianship (ESP 4044), was released on ESP-Disk in 2008.

Personnel: Stephen Rush (rhodes, moog, trombone, toys) Tom Abbs (bass, cello, violin, tuba, didj) Geoff Mann (drums, percussion, trumpet)