Showing posts with label Jeff Cosgrove. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Cosgrove. Show all posts

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Jeff Cosgrove & Scott Robinson - Hunters and Scavengers

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop 
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:25
Size: 103,3 MB
Art: Front

(2:26)  1. Eyes of the Hunter
(3:01)  2. Don't Look (Just Run)
(5:30)  3. Patterned Behavior
(5:43)  4. High, Low
(0:38)  5. Instinct
(2:54)  6. Field Test
(5:10)  7. Rays of Dawn
(6:39)  8. Simple Justification
(6:32)  9. Song of the Cuddle Fish
(5:47) 10. Lonely Woman


In the 1980s, artist Jenny Holzer created short, pithy statements projected by LED lights in museums and onto Times Square. Her now famous "Abuse of Power Comes As No Surprise" text sums up not only the #MeToo movement and the #BlackLivesMatter cry, but also to some extent, the music industry. The vertical construction of many jazz ensembles, like in corporations, gave us a leader with an often interchangeable rhythm section. This trend toward verticality began to be reversed in improvised music, creating a more democratic effort with leadership roles spread across the group. This horizontal approach is at the forefront of Hunters & Scavengers, a trio recording by Jeff Cosgrove, Scott Robinson, and Ken Filiano. It is the embodiment of a cooperative improvisation outfit. Drummer Jeff Cosgrove has turned heads of late with his work with Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Ivo Perelman, and Mat Maneri. His approach is to act more as a colorist, than a pulse generator. That approach suits bassist Filiano just fine. A veteran of nearly 200 recordings with musicians like Tony Malaby, Connie Crothers, and Anthony Braxton, his proficiency equals that of Barry Guy, Drew Gress, and Mark Dresser. Then there's saxophonist Scott Robinson, who might be the most underrated multi-instrumentalist in jazz today. His command of a menagerie of horns is on par with that of Anthony Braxton and Vinny Golia.

What this trio accomplishes in ten tracks, nine improvised and one by Ornette Coleman, is the concept of a republic. This equality amongst its members might have begun in Bill Evans' trios where Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian where freed from keeping time, but it has reached a second zenith here in these pieces. A piece like "Simple Justification" roils with a wintery covering of bowed then plucked bass, cymbals like tiny birds, and the plaintive calls of Robinson's tenor saxophone. Together, as one, the music flows, streams, and fills space with an almost unconcerned naturalness. The same is true of "Song Of The Cuddle Fish." Working to make a soundscape, the trio creates eerie textures and "Field Test," in which the emphasis appears (if this is possible) to be more of feel than sound. If you were to listen to this recording, it might be best to start with Ornette's classic "Lonely Woman" as the key to unlock the remainder of the music. Sans a leader, the melody is played by each musician as if they were charged with holding up all the tent poles of the composition. The music is a common cause here, and the three are in continuous service of the sound.~ Mark Corroto https://www.allaboutjazz.com/hunters-and-scavengers-jeff-cosgrove-scott-robinson-ken-filiano-grizzley-music-review-by-mark-corroto.php

Personnel: Jeff Cosgrove: drums; Scott Robinson: saxophone; Ken Filiano: bass.

Hunters and Scavengers

Monday, July 20, 2020

Jeff Cosgrove - History Gets Ahead of the Story

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:18
Size: 136,9 MB
Art: Front

(6:54)  1. O'neal's Porch
(6:14)  2. Corn Meal Dance
(6:21)  3. Gospel Flowers
(5:30)  4. Little Bird
(6:41)  5. Ghost
(5:58)  6. Moon
(4:28)  7. Things Fall Apart
(4:36)  8. Wood Flute Song
(6:07)  9. Purcell's Lament
(6:24) 10. Harlem

"Over the years, way too much improv has been flung into the realm without a clear grasp of the past. It is not that way with History Gets Ahead Of The Story, which cleverly integrates both mainstream and progressive tradition into a wonderfully refreshing world"

Drummer Jeff Cosgrove’s History Gets Ahead Of The Story is mesmerising on many levels. First of all, arguably a rarity in this day and age, the overall sound is like a warm blanket on a winter’s day and the punch and layered texture of the drums make the record sound even more inviting. Secondly, Cosgrove’s trio of saxophonist Jeff Lederer and organist John Medeski warmed to the challenge of performing the compositions of bassist William Parker and regularly hit bull’s eye. William Parker and Jeff Cosgrove have thread a similar path of improvisational music and released Alternating Current in 2014 and Near Disaster in 2019, which also included pianist Matthew Shipp. Parker’s music, modelled from minimal motives, modality and a lurid sense of tunefulness, merits plenty attention and leaves a lot of room for personal expression.

Both title and content of Things Fall Apart aptly reflect the trio’s vision. Though more precisely it should read in brackets: And We Put Them Back Together Again. Behind the surface of the piece, built from a couple of crunchy figures and scraps of melody, one intuitively senses a balanced pattern of harmony, courtesy of the trio’s responsive interplay and cogent individual statements. Gospel Flowers, a balancing act of semi-waltz and drone, is as winsome as Things Fall Apart. Corn Meal Dance’s sensuality and staccato violence tightens the cords between Cannonball Adderley’s Country Preacher and Pharaoh Sanders’s Karma. O’Neal’s Porch and Harlem employ a blues-based gait as the starting and breaking point for relentless free expression.

Expressionism finds its climax in the stately song Purcell’s Lament. Lederer is a wildly imaginative player of tenor and soprano sax and flute, ecstatic and full of warmth, a mix that is supported by far-reaching technical command of his instruments. Medeski fits right in, fiery and revelling in an effective display of different Hammond organ sounds. The pulse and melodic finesse of Cosgrove firmly directs proceedings. 

Over the years, way too much improv has been flung into the realm without a clear grasp of the past. It is not that way with History Gets Ahead Of The Story, which cleverly integrates both mainstream and progressive tradition into the wonderfully refreshing world that it is unto itself. https://jazzjournal.co.uk/2020/06/29/jeff-cosgrove-history-gets-ahead-of-the-story/

Personnel: Drums – Jeff Cosgrove; Organ – John Medeski; Saxophone, Flute – Jeff Lederer

History Gets Ahead of the Story