The Microscopic Septet - Manhattan Moonrise

Styles: Progressive Jazz, Post Bop  
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:15
Size: 142,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:50)  1. When You Get In Over Your Head
(5:51)  2. No Time
(8:14)  3. Manhattan Moonrise
(3:22)  4. Obeying the Chemicals
(4:13)  5. A Snapshot of the Soul
(5:12)  6. Star Turn
(5:49)  7. Hang It On a Line
(5:12)  8. Let's Coolerate One
(5:02)  9. Suspended Animation
(4:14) 10. Blue
(4:57) 11. You Got That Right
(5:15) 12. Occupy Your Life

In the 80s, the band engendered a cagey slant on mainstream swing and then morphed into the risk-taking New York downtown scene, eventually garnering widespread attention and sell-out crowds at the Knitting Factory and other hip venues. They regrouped in 2006, carrying the torch for what has become a singular sound, ingrained in classic jazz stylizations, bop, funk, and the free-jazz domain. Known for its quirky deviations, razor-sharp horns arrangements and melodic hooks, the septet's spunkiness and tightknit overtures align with the stars on Manhattan Moonrise. The musicians tackle a funk rock itinerary spiced with pianist Joel Forrester's New Orleans style phrasings in support of baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson's ballsy impetus on "Hang It On A Line." Augmented by whispery horns and contrapuntal dialogues, they ring in a good timey vibe, slightly shaded with sober undertones. They spark a polytonal jamboree, while integrating linear unison choruses and drummer Richard Dworkin's snappy breaks between choruses. Here, the ensemble renders alternating modalities and launch the bridge with Sewelson's fervent solo spot atop a swaggering groove. And the musicians shift the dynamic with a straightforward and slightly in-you-face interlude as an embryonic current ensues. Towards the finale, the hornists gel to a simple melody via extended notes, yielding a subliminal nod to 70s like soul jazz. No monumental surprises here, but another stirring and broadly entertaining production by these consummate team players. ~ Glenn Astarita https://www.allaboutjazz.com/manhattan-moonrise-microscopic-septet-cuneiform-records-review-by-glenn-astarita.php

Personnel: Phillip Johnston: soprano saxophone; Don Davis: alto saxophone; Mike Hashim: tenor saxophone; Dave Sewelson: baritone saxophone; Joel Forrester: piano; Dave Hofstra: bass; Richard Dworkin: drums.

Manhattan Moonrise

---

The Microscopic Septet - Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down To Me: The Micros Play The Blues

Styles: Progressive Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:13
Size: 154,4 MB
Art: Front

(4:33)  1. Cat Toys
(2:47)  2. Blues Cubistico
(6:34)  3. Dark Blue
(4:04)  4. Don't Mind If I Do
(4:50)  5. Migraine Blues (for Wendlyn Alter)
(6:21)  6. PJ In The 60s
(4:34)  7. When It's Getting Dark
(5:43)  8. Simple-Minded Blues
(2:28)  9. After You, Joel
(4:26) 10. 12 Angry Birds
(5:51) 11. Quizzical
(6:21) 12. Silent Night
(3:16) 13. I've Got A Right To Cry
(0:17) 14. Untitled

Saxophonist Phillip Johnston founded The Microscopic Septet in 1980 when the group briefly counted John Zorn as one of its members. They recorded four albums and were a regular presence in New York's downtown scene before disbanding in 1992. In 2006 Cuneiform Records re-released the four albums leading to the reformation of the group and presently, to their new release Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down to Me: The Micros Play the Blues. Johnston and pianist Joel Forrester, saxophonist Dave Sewelson and bassist Dave Hofstra were all members of the original group. However, drummer Richard Dworkin and saxophonist Don Davis followed closely, both coming on board in the early 1980s. Only tenor saxophonist Mike Hashim is a later arrival, having joined the band shortly after the reformation in 2007. If any of their album titles crystalizes the essence of the The Micros, it is Surrealistic Swing: The History of the Micros, Vol. 2 (Cuneiform Records, 2006). Johnston and Forrester, who evenly divide the writing credits on this album, share an affinity if not an outright insistence for a swing-based criteria. 

Yet throughout their recordings, there is a progressive bent that makes the music feel neither nostalgic nor avant-garde but somewhere in-between. Each of fourteen compositions on Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down to Me share that aesthetic sense but each with its own idiosyncrasy. "Cat Toys" could be out of the 1940s save for an appealing and technically modern bass solo from Hofstra. "Blues Cubistico," with its swinging dance rhythm, is kept up to date with Hashim and Sewelson's low-end improvised saxophones. The down and dirty "Dark Blues" features Johnston, Hashim and Sewelson in some fine creative interplay, handing off to Forrester for an engaging piano solo. Dworkin has time to shine on the percussion driven "Migraine Blues," a blend of swing and jump blues. "PJ in the 60s" opens as close to free playing as the group goes but quickly returns to the concept; again, the three saxophones enter into some pleasing dialog with Forrester and Dworkin later getting some quality solo time.

The tracks on Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down to Me are relatively compact, with one clocking in at under one minute; all having a contagious cheerfulness, modernly ostentatious and colorful textures. Like all of the compositions in the Microscopic Septet catalog, there is an unaffected and timeless quality to the music that will appeal to those who favor mainstream as well as the more exploratory listener. ~ Karl Ackermann https://www.allaboutjazz.com/been-up-so-long-it-looks-like-down-to-me-the-micros-play-the-blues-microscopic-septet-cuneiform-records-review-by-karl-ackermann.php

Personnel: Phillip Johnston: soprano saxophone; Don Davis: alto saxophone; Mike Hashim: tenor saxophone; Dave Sewelson: baritone saxophone; Joel Forrester: piano; Dave Hofstra: bass; Richard Dworkin: drums.

Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down To Me: The Micros Play The Blues

---

Microscopic Septet - Off Beat Glory

Styles: Progressive Jazz, Post Bop 
Year: 1986
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:09
Size: 97,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:39)  1. Brooklyn In The Fifties
(4:44)  2. Baghdad Blues
(5:16)  3. Crepuscule With Nellie
(7:34)  4. In The Mission
(2:44)  5. March Of The Video Reptiles
(5:13)  6. I Saw You In Utah (Idaho)
(4:01)  7. I Am The Police
(6:54)  8. By You, Do You Mean You Or Me?

The Microscopic Septet's third album may not have differed too much in spirit from their first two and certainly covers no particularly new ground, but there's still a good deal of enjoyment in listening to these strange fellows go about their business. The off-kilter melodies tinged with noir, the tight, richly arranged horn lines, and, above all, the mischievous humor of the compositions are all still intact. Pieces like co-leader Phillip Johnston's "Baghdad Blues" are still apt to turn on a dime from a smoky torch song to a carousing, rhythmic dynamo. There is, perhaps, something of a drop-off in the level of manic enthusiasm that made their first release, Take the Z Train, so surprising and gripping; some of the tunes drag just a bit. On the other hand, this was the first recording to feature tenor saxophonist Paul Shapiro, who brought a wonderful robustness and soul to the band; he's featured on Johnston's delightful (and delightfully titled) "I Saw You in Utah (Idaho)," with its jaunty hoedown echoes. 

When it came to song titles, it was tough to surpass the Micros, and "By You, Do You Mean You or Me?," which closes out the album, is a fine encapsulation of what the band was about: A romantic, winsome opening theme on soprano merging into a raucous rhythm & blues stomper, with baritone player Dave Sewelson on top roaring while the band layers riff after inspired riff behind him and eventually lapses into a gorgeous dirge. Off Beat Glory isn't the best of the four records they released, but it contains more than enough special moments to make it well-worth the purchase. ~ Brian Olewnick https://www.allmusic.com/album/off-beat-glory-mw0000890167

Personnel:  Tenor Saxophone – Paul Shapiro; Soprano Saxophone – Phillip Johnston; Alto Saxophone – Don Davis ; Baritone Saxophone – Dave Sewelson ; Bass, Tuba – David Hofstra; Drums – Richard Dworkin; Piano – Joel Forrester

Off Beat Glory

---