Tim Armacost - The Inevitable Note

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:07
Size: 163,1 MB
Art: Front

(9:05) 1. Lazy Afternoon
(6:08) 2. Since Before We Met
(8:56) 3. Work Wonk
(7:19) 4. Ramble In The Gramble
(9:43) 5. Yaomacost
(7:25) 6. I Love My Chiru
(8:48) 7. The Mayor's Counsel
(6:26) 8. A Sliver Of Silver
(7:12) 9. Lynn's Tune

Saxophonist Tim Armacost is a force to be reckoned with. He has slowly and steadily built a reputation and a body of work that has marked him out as a player of great originality and distinction. It is only to be hoped that recordings such as this will help propel his musical trajectory further.

In danger of becoming a musician’s musician, Armacost is very much his own man having processed his influences and distilled them into his own unique take on the modern jazz tradition. In his playing one can detect the influence of John Coltrane in the saxophonist’s steely tone, and the rhythmic dexterity and lyrical agility of Sonny Rollins, yet Armacost is able to project this in his own voice to which he adds his harmonic ingenuity.

Not prone to pyrotechnics, although he can turn up the heat when required, Armacost’s solos have a patient quality about them, and delivered if he all the time in the world to say what needs to be said before moving on.

With The Inevitable Note Armacost presents a neatly programmed set of contemporary hard bop with some cracking compositions that suit this new quintet very well indeed. Opening with ‘Lazy Afternoon’, the quintet settles into their groove. The theme is delivered with a commanding tenor statement for Armacost before he launches into his first solo of the album.

Immediately capturing the attention with a hard edged tone and melodic figures that never quite go where one might expect. This is followed by Joe Locke’s vibes solo that brings the pace down and releasing the tension built up by the saxophonist.

‘Ramble in the Gramble’ kicks off with a frantic bass riff that lifts the drummer and pianist carrying them along as the tenor picks up the theme. Armacost’s solo is a little more fragmentary as he rides the bass line that continues to propel the music along. Joe Locke’s vibes solo follows a similar path as the notes fly from his mallets, carefully building his melodic phrases over the tumultuous rhythm section.

Davis’s bass is again to the fore as he introduces ‘Yaomacost’ with his strong and full sound on the instrument gripping the attention. Switching to soprano saxophone, the playing is lyrical and tender from Armacost. If the tone is not as full as his tenor sound, his control and use of dynamics give his playing a lightness if touch that is most appealing. This can be evidenced on ‘A Sliver of Silver’ where his phrases tumble over each other in a lucid solo that generates real excitement.

Back on tenor, Armacost displays a gentle swagger on ‘The Mayor’s Counsel’ in a statement of real authority, as does a splendid solo from pianist Jim Ridl, once again propelled along with urgency and good taste by the bass and drums team of Kenny Davis and Rudy Royston.

Interestingly this fine album will be released not just digitally, but in the physical format of a 180gram LP, with no immediate plans to release on CD. For audiophiles everywhere a chance to add another quality album to the collection while the rest of us should make haste and dust off our turntables in readiness.By Nick Lea https://jazzviews.net/tim-armacost-the-inevitable-note/

Personnel: Tim Armacost (tenor & soprano saxophones); Joe Locke (vibraphone); Jim Ridl (piano); Kenny Davis (double bass); Rudy Royston (drums)

The Inevitable Note

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Alex Garnett's Bunch of Five - Andromeda

Styles: Saxophone Jazz

Year: 2015

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 59:59

Size: 138,6 MB

Art: Front

( 6:06)  1. So Long

(10:28)  2. Charlie's World

( 7:18)  3. Andromeda

( 5:48)  4. Delusions of Grandma

( 6:48)  5. Early Autumn

(10:00)  6. Her Tears

( 5:37)  7. Holmes

( 7:50)  8. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm

Taking on a two tenor line-up can be a bit of challenge. The weight of jazz history can hang heavily on the shoulders of the ‘challengers’ having to follow such potent combinations as Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons and Dexter Gordon and Wardell Grey to pick just a couple. In this, his second album for Whirlwind Recordings, Alex Garnett and fellow tenorist, Tim Armacost achieve this with some strong compositions, some cast iron playing and healthy dose of good humour thrown in, and indeed the Bunch of 5 band comes together from a mixture of determination and good fortune and coincidences over an extended period of time in getting the US based Armacost this side of the pond. The repertoire contains a couple of standards in ‘Early Autumn’ with the saxophonist acknowledging his admiration for Stan Getz, and Irving Berlin’s ‘I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm’; but it the originals that keep the flame burning throughout this fine set. Garnett maintains that writing for two tenors is actually easier than writing for other more usual combinations, and proceeds to put his money where his mouth is in presenting some tough blowing vehicles the humorously titled ‘Delusions of Grandma’ and the clever title track that exhibits great subtly and warmth in the opening phrases, with the two horns weaving intricately around each other. Liam Noble also gets in a delightful solo, perfectly mirroring the feeling that has gone before. Careful listening soon establishes the differences between the two tenors, with Armacost exhibiting the more abrasive tone, and Garnett complimenting this by following a more conventional route through the chords. Throughout, the rhythm section if somewhat subservient to the needs of the saxophonists driving things along nicely, yet manage to find their place in the music that draws the ear. This a fine album from Garnett and his Bunch of 5 that unusually for a two tenor front line resists the temptation for combative duelling, and the net result is a set that reveals more with each listening. ~ Nick Lea http://www.jazzviews.net/alex-garnettrsquos-bunch-of-5-ndash-andromeda.html

Personnel:  Alex Garnett & Tim Armacost (tenor saxophone); Liam Noble (piano); Michael Janisch (double bass); James Maddren (drums)

Andromeda

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New York Standards Quartet - Unstandard

Styles: Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:22
Size: 127,4 MB
Art: Front

(8:17)  1. How High The Moon
(0:57)  2. Polka Beamlet #1
(4:59)  3. All the Things You Are
(0:46)  4. Polka Beamlet #2
(7:07)  5. Stablemates
(4:19)  6. But Beautiful
(6:48)  7. Lunar
(5:48)  8. Interplay
(2:08)  9. Two Meetings
(6:22) 10. The Ballet Girl Stirs (by Starlight)
(0:34) 11. After Thought
(6:21) 12. Summer Night
(0:48) 13. Polka Beamlet #3

It's a pleasure when a group of great jazz players take American standards and reshape them with their own unique stamp. This happens on New York Standards Quartet's Unstandard, where the musical gambit the direction these musicians take the originals is often surprising. Pianist David Berkman leads the way, handling arrangements and contributing originals, all the while taking impeccable solos. This is a joint effort, and veteran drummer Gene Jackson is invaluable, impressively powering the pace, aided by bassist Yosuke Inoue. The spotlight shines brightest, though, on Tim Armacost, whose forceful soprano and tenor saxophones anchor most pieces. The clever adaptations begin with the opener, Morgan Lewis' "How High the Moon." 

On this, the soprano evokes an eerie, funereal feeling, before warming up; this is not the usual bright, bouncy treatment of this jazz staple.) Likewise, the quartet's version of Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are" takes advantage of the exotic effects a soprano can provide; a bow, here, to John Coltrane's pioneering work on thie instrument. Berkman's "Lunar" is an intriguing deconstruction of Miles Davis' "Solar." After a brief exploration, it's possible to here the place in the late trumpet icon's jazz universe, with Berkman's probing piano the master guide. Armacost puts his brand on Benny Golson's classic "Stablemates," which owes much to Sonny Rollins' tenor imprint. The composition, largely unrecognizable at first, soon becomes familiar and goes its atonal way. Jimmy Van Heusen's ''But Beautiful," becomes pastoral here, with a rippling stream and waterfall effect created by flute, piano and cymbal.

The touchstone of the CD's creative excellence is in Berkman's rework of Victor Young's "Stella By Starlight," known here as "The Ballet Girl Stirs (By Starlight)." After a stunning tour de force opening on tenor, the piano comes to the fore. Near the end, Young's haunting melody asserts itself, which brings a satisfied recognition of what was previously felt subliminally. Three charming vignettes on "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," each less than an minute, divide the play list, further evidence that Unstandard is not a usual series of the familiar. ~ Larry Taylor  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/unstandard-challenge-records-review-by-larry-taylor.php
 

Personnel: David Berkman: piano; Tim Armacost; soprano and tenor saxophones, flute; Yosuke Inoue; bass; Gene Jackson; drums.

Unstandard

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Tim Armacost - Live At Smalls

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:41
Size: 155,2 MB
Art: Front

( 0:59)  1. Tim Introduces The Band
(10:58)  2. Libra
(11:29)  3. Tenor Vibe
(11:29)  4. Invisible
( 9:57)  5. Whistling Away the Dark
(13:11)  6. Hank's Other Bag
( 9:35)  7. You Don't Know What Love Is

This is a burning set recorded live at one of New York's hottest jazz clubs, Smalls. The presence of the great Tom Harrell on trumpet and flugelhorn ratchets up the intensity, but the lesser-known quintet members Gerald Cannon on bass, Shingo Okudaira on drums, and the delightful Jonny King on piano turn in excellent performances as well. Tim Armacost's tenor sound is rich and his solos are steeped in classic post-bop vocabulary. He shines on the ballads "Whistling Away the Dark" and "You Don't Know What Love Is," ably handles the faster tempos of Gary Bartz's "Libra" and Ornette Coleman's "Invisible," and plays a mean soprano sax on Hank Mobley's "Hank's Other Bag," a 14-bar blues. ~ David R. Adler   

http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-smalls-mw0000670899

Personnel: Tim Armacost (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Tom Harrell (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jonny King (piano); Gerald Cannon (upright bass); Shingo Okudaira (drums).

Live At Smalls

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Craig Bailey, Tim Armacost & Brooklyn Big Band - Live at Sweet Rhythm

Styles: Jazz
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:06
Size: 156,7 MB
Art: Front

( 9:10)  1. Long Haired Girl
( 9:59)  2. Brazilian Bop
(14:44)  3. Take the Coltrane
( 4:52)  4. East of Enid
( 8:27)  5. Animated
( 7:52)  6. Quiet Time
(10:14)  7. My Blues
( 2:46)  8. Announcement Funk

The 17-piece Brooklyn Big Band, formed in 2000, is heavy on saxophone players, starting with its leaders, Craig Bailey (alto and flute) and Tim Armacost (tenor and clarinet). As displayed on this debut recording, Bailey and Armacost’s conception is to explore contemporary possibilities for the big band, in part by reviewing the past. The unsigned liner notes say of the disc’s longest track, “Take the Coltrane,” “This performance encapsulates a lot of what the group is trying to achieve,” which might be summarized as trying to answer the musical question, “What would Duke Ellington and His Orchestra have sounded like if John Coltrane had been their saxophonist in the 1960s?” “Take the Coltrane” is generously credited to Ellington as composer (notwithstanding that “Take the ‘A’ Train” was written by Billy Strayhorn), and while there isn’t much Ellington in it, it does attempt to reinterpret mature Coltrane in a big-band context. 

But that’s really only one track in a quite varied set. Trombonist Jason Jackson’s “Brazilian Bop” brings in the inevitable Latin tinge prior to “Take the Coltrane,” in what is basically a history lesson that makes up the first section of the disc, following the bravura opener, “Long Haired Girl.” Bailey’s palate-cleansing “East of Enid” inaugurates a mellow midsection for the album, giving David Berkman a chance to make like a New Age pianist before he joins in with a delicate flute line. Armacost’s big moment is his unaccompanied solo late in the melodic “Animated,” after which Bailey makes the argument that his old boss Ray Charles represented a valid strain of big-band jazz in “Quiet Time” and “My Blues.” Whether or not that’s true, the Brooklyn Big Band fully delivers on its claim to be an evolution of the big-band sound here. ~ William Ruhlmann   http://jazztimes.com/articles/25812-live-at-sweet-rhythm-craig-bailey-tim-armacost-brooklyn-big-band

Live at Sweet Rhythm

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Tim Armacost - Fire

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:35
Size: 155,0 MB
Art: Front

(7:38)  1. Norwegian Wood
(5:43)  2. The Old Familiar Faces
(5:14)  3. Long Haired Girl
(7:25)  4. Pennies From Heaven
(6:21)  5. The Tabla Master
(6:53)  6. Maconde
(6:41)  7. There's A Lull In My Life
(6:42)  8. Voyage
(7:05)  9. Imprint
(7:50) 10. Bailey's Blues

Tim Armacost has led a life of constant motion. He has gathered knowledge and experience around the globe, which forms the foundation of his passionate brand of jazz. After landing in New York in 1993, Armacost quickly established his presence as a leader, releasing his first two albums, “Fire” (Concord) and “Live at Smalls” (Double Time) to critical acclaim. His hard hitting third release, “The Wishing Well,” (Double Time) announced the arrival of Armacost’s working unit, featuring Bruce Barth, Ray Drummond, and Billy Hart. The group has completed six successful tours in  Europe and Asia, working with sponsors Northwest Airlines, Marriott Hotels and Volkswagen. The band is now celebrating the release of its second recording, “Brightly Dark.” (Satchmo Records) Working with his quartet, the cooperative group Hornz in the Hood with fellow saxophonists Craig Handy and Ravi Coltrane, Ray Drummond’s “Excursion Band,” and co- leading the Brooklyn Big Band with Craig Bailey, Armacost is now seriously in the mix. Armacost's career is already distinguished by performance and recording credits alongside the likes of Al Foster, Jimmy Cobb, Kenny Barron, Tom Harrell, Billy Hart, Victor Lewis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Ray Drummond, Roy Hargrove, Paquito D'Rivera, Claudio Roditi, Bruce Barth, Dave Kikoski, Don Friedman, Lonnie Plaxico, Robin Eubanks, Charlie Shoemake, Pete Christlieb, Randy Brecker, Akira Tana, Valery Ponomarev, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, and the David Murray Big Band. He has toured throughout East and West Europe, Japan, India, and the United States. 

Armacost describes his early upbringing as a pendulum swing between his hometown of Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Washington D.C. He began his musical training on clarinet in Tokyo at the age of eight. By sixteen he had switched to tenor saxophone, and was working in big bands around Washington. The turning point into a jazz career came back in LA at eighteen, where Armacost met his two primary teachers, Bobby Bradford and Charlie Shoemake. Through them he learned the fundamentals of melody and harmony, and was exposed to the giants of modern jazz, who would give shape to Armacost's early development. Among them were: Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, Freddie Hubbard, Tom Harrell, Sonny Stitt, Pete Christlieb, Harold Land, and Clifford Brown. Armacost graduated Magna Cum Laude from Pomona College with a major in Asian Studies in 1985. His restless spirit took him to Amsterdam later that year, where he established himself on the jazz scene, attained fluency in Dutch, and became the head of the Sweelinck Conservatory's saxophone department. After gaining seven years worth of extensive performing, teaching, and recording experience in Europe, Armacost raised his stakes once again and headed for India. Having studied melody and harmony for twelve years, Armacost arrived in New Delhi with the goal of concentrating on rhythm. He had the good fortune to become a student of the tabla master Vijay Ateet. 

Under Mr. Ateet's guidance, Armacost explored the rich rhythmic tradition of Hindustani classical music. With the sponsorship of The United States Information Service, and the Delhi chapter of Jazz India, Armacost performed frequently with Indian jazz and classical musicians. He returned to India to play at the Jazz Yatra, Bombay’s international jazz festival in 1998. Indian rhythmic concepts continue to be a source of inspiration in Armacost's development as an improviser. As evidenced by his recently recorded pieces “The Tabla Master,” “Indian News,” and “Afro Pentameter,” Hindustani music has also profoundly influenced Armacost's compositional style. Throughout twenty-five years of frequent traveling to Japan, Tim Armacost has developed a deep and special relationship with its people. He is a fluent speaker of Japanese, which he studied as an exchange student at Waseda University, and is an active student of Japanese culture and religion. His performances there have included such great musicians as Terumasa and Motohiko Hino, Fumio Karashima, Nobuyoshi Ino, Fumio Itabashi, Shingo Okudaira, Benisuke Sakai, Kiyoto Fujiwara, and Yutaka Shiina.    http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/musician.php?id=3476#.Uw69D4VZhhk

Fire

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Tim Armacost - The Wishing Well

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:41
Size: 150,6 MB
Art: Front

(10:04)  1. Body And Soul
( 7:58)  2. Sustenance
(17:15)  3. Crescent
(14:42)  4. Black Sand Beach
( 8:18)  5. The Wishing Well
( 7:22)  6. Special Delivery

In order to play true jazz, a musician needs to assimilate all that went before him, paying particular attention to those artists who charted the course and defined the vernacular for the specific instrument that he has set out to master. In music, nothing ever gets pulled out of thin air. You carry forth a linage, and hopefully along the way, through intense study and careful examination, you can extend that lineage by putting your own fingerprint on what you play; a sort of musical DNA that separates you from everyone else. On The Wishing Well , the latest CD from tenor saxophonist Tim Armacost, we hear Tim re-examining and re-assessing that linage, while carefully placing his own ideas under a microscope, crystalizing them, absorbing them, and preserving them, not unlike a scientist does with laboratory samples of organic DNA. A native of California, 37 year old Armacost is a young lion with a mature and toasty-warm sound, a lyrical approach, and a innate sense of swing. He plays through this program of originals (plus two standards) with the grace of an albatross; gliding effortlessly over the thermal convection provided by bandmates Bruce Barth, Ray Drummond, and Billy Hart. All the performances are on a very high level on this date, and the selection of tunes are nothing to sneer at either. 

Just when you thought "Body and Soul" had been played to death, Armacost gives us a version in waltz time, with a substitution in the bridge comprised of modulating two-fives, which greatly extends the harmonic interest of the piece. When listening to this disc you also will get a feeling that Armacost has been deeply moved by the music of John Coltrane(what saxophonist of the last forty years hasn't?), and his stirring rendition of Cresent shows that he is not afraid to let us know just that. The set closes with Armacost's Special Delivery; indeed special, for this up-tempo burner finds everyone inspired and in good spirits. Throughout The Wishing Well, Tim Armacost shows us that he is a voice and a talent to be reckoned with, thus earning the honorable distinction in jazz circles as being "one of the cats." Welcome aboard, Tim! ~ Aaj Staff   

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=5732#.Uw0-FYVZhhk

Personnel: Tim Armacost (tenor sax); Bruce Barth (piano); Ray Drummond (bass); Billy Hard (drums)

The Wishing Well

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