The Christopher Adler Trio - Transcontinental (9Winds Records, 2001)
Jump Arts Journal
CHRISTOPHER ADLER TRIO
Transcontinental NWCD0262
Tracks: Aloft/Akash/Transcontinental
Personnel: Christopher Adler (piano), Alan Lechusza (woodwinds), Vikas Srivastava (drums)
Time: 61:08
Recording: January, 2001; engineer: Christopher Adler
San Diego-based pianist Christopher Adler first joined forces with multi-reedist Alan Lechusza as a free improvising duo. "Pleistocene," their duo recording, had been released on Adler's own Black Phone label. It's currently out of print, but slated to be re-released sometime in the near future. "Transcontinental", a recording of Adler's trio with the addition of drummer Vikas Srivastava, was also recorded by the pianist himself at a concert at Los Angeles Harbor College. The initial run of 100 Black Phone CD-Rs having run its course, it's thankfully been picked up by 9 Winds for release, it would have been a shame for it to have gone by the wayside so quickly.
The hour long concert presents three collective improvisations by the trio, and they are truly collective. Althought most of "Akash" is a duo for Adler's piano and Lechusza's flute, during the other pieces very little time passes that all three aren't actively playing together. The 26 minute "Aloft" is divided into two sections, split evenly between Lechusza's appearance on soprano and tenor.
The first half floats soprano and piano on a bed of Srivastava's cymbals. Srivastava loves cymbals and for the first thirteen minutes or so plays nothing but and his fanning hi-hat is prominent throughout the concert. The second section is given over to a passionate statement from Lechusza's tenor. Truth be told, Lechusza may be the most dominant voice of the trio and this recording is a fine showcase for his intense and involved playing on soprano, tenor, baritone and flute. The reedist works with many in the 9 Winds stable and is a member of Vinny Golia's Large Ensemble. His playing on this recording is a revelation. Playing almost continuously throughout, moments such as the later portion of his soprano playing on the first track and the estimable passion of his tenor on the same elevate this concert to something truly special.
Adler's piano keeps up a roiling steady soundscape under the woodwinds throughout. Although the music is freely improvised, it often hovers around one or two tonal centers, possibly an influence of the pianist's studies of Thai and Laotian musics. Adler is very active in these studies and often performs on the khaen, a northeast Thai mouth organ and ranaat ek, the Thai classical xylophone.
Drummer Vikas Srivastava can range from impressionistic cymbal washes to kicking beats, as evidenced on the title track. With his sister Preet, Srivastava helps manage the family-owned Galoka, a San Diego vegetarian restaurant/art gallery/performance space. Galoka has been important to Adler's trio in that it provides a space for them to perform regularly. It's paid off, too - often these free improvisations are so closely knit between the trio's voices that they give the impression of having sprung from compositions. "Transcontinental" is a rewarding release from a strong improvising trio that includes some truly bright moments.
François Couture (author): Review - The Christopher Adler Trio; Transcontinental
Christopher Adler Trio
Transcontinental
Nine Winds
NWCD0262
2002
2001 01 276
Recorded at Los Angeles Harbor College on January 27, 2001, this album first
came out as a self-released CD under the title Live in Los Angeles in 2001,
before getting picked up and more widely released by Nine Winds the next
year. It documents a strong performance by Christopher Adler, (piano), Alan
Lechusza (saxes and flutes) and Vikas Srivastava (drums), definitely worth
listening to. The first of three long improvisations, lof2 starts off almost
classical-like, with Adler, a classically trained pianist, developing
flourishes of chords. In the course of its 26 minutes, things escalate to a
boiling point, but this chaos and energy crescendo is stretched over too much
time to grasp your attention. If testosterone-driven improv is your thing,
then you will find the closing title track much more satisfactory. Lechusza
blows a mean baritone sax while
Srivastava builds a wall of cymbals and Adler simply goes nuts, hammering as
many keys he can with one stroke of the fist. Things quiet down for the
last10 minutes. Adler plays ripples of chords to accompany Lechusza1s solo
and take us in a reverse repeat of the first number. The second piece,Akash
focuses on quietness and beauty, Lechusza leading the way on flute. A good
album, surprisingly listener-friendly thanks to Srivastava1s propensity to
keep rhythm and Adler1s lush, awkwardly majestic playing, Transcontinental
makes for an enjoyable, unusual listen.
AMH and MAD Quartet - Live at the Field and Frame (Plutonium Records, 2001), Witches of Agnesi (Plutonium Records, 2002)
AMH Trio, Live at Field and Frame (MW, tuba;Harris Eisenstadt, drums; Alan
Lechusza, winds. Plutonium 001)
Is a fun album (very softly recorded though). It features tunes by all players and lots of wild improv.
Eisenstadt has a great touch and moves freely from groove to free. Lechusza
shows his knowledge of many instruments in the different contexts given here.
Radius, Witch of Agnesi (MW, Tuba; Alan Lechusza, winds; Damon Smith,
contrabass; Dave Wayne, drumset. Plutonium 004) combines members of the
previous albums into one. On this album the free sections are particularly
engaging. On track 2 (rendezvous of symmetries) oboe and tuba take the
forefront. As on the other albums, Weaver shows himself a force to be
reckoned with in varied musical environments, from notated to free, from
traditional vocabulary to extended.
http://www.pfmentum.com/ncm/contents/wordsworth/ew_11_2002.html
AMH trio "live at Field & Frame"
plutonium plu001
There seems to be something exotic about a jazz group led by a tubaist.
First of all, it's a rarity and, second, the leader often takes a different direction in writing. That's what happens with the AMH Trio Mark Weaver, a tuba player based in Albuquerque, NM, invited reedist Alan Lechusza to join him for a session (both played in trombonist Michael Vlatkovitch sextet) Lechusza brought with him Los Angeles drummer Harris Eisenstadt.
The three musicians played together for the first time two days before this live recording. Weaver contributed five composition's, the other players one piece each. The set opens and closes with "Pentimento," a piece built on a twisted melodic/rhythmic motif. Actually, this is mostly the way Weaver writes - sharp bouncy head lines tied together with improvisation ("Every Cubic Centimeter," "Elements," "Stitches"). Yet, the AMH Trio is quite different than Weaver s earlier project Protuberance (with guitarist Paul Pulaski and drummer Dave Wayne the group is less funky, dynamic, and structured, and more mellow, exploratory, and free. Eisenstadt proves to be an inventive drummer, pumping excitement!
into "Pentimento: Encore" as he punctuates its leitmotif, trying to anticipate when the other players will fall back on it. Lechusza does a fair job on saxophones, less fair on clarinets, and overall doesn't come through as a striking player. Live at Field & Frame has been mastered very low, but the sound quality is good enough to be pleasing. This is a nice first effort, but it promises more possibilities in the future.
- François Couture (www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll)
AMH trio "live at Field & Frame"
plutonium plu001
Multi-reed player Lechusza teams up with Weaver on tuba and Eisenstadt on
drums in a loosely configured recording containing substantial free blowing
and explosive drumming. Lechusza is into adventurous improvising spurred
throught the prodding of Weaver, who uses his tuba in a dual capacity. He
takes on the bass role and also turns the unwieldy instrument into an
improvising tool using highly dexterous fingering and breath control.
While Lechusza is launching the all-original compositions (most of which
are by Weaver) with hefty rounds of spontaneity, Weaver is either matching
his action with vigorous puffing or laying down a patterned bottom line.
Eisenstadt is a deft handler of the drums, providing significant firepower
when needed or simply using shimmering cymbal crashes and brush strokes to
supplement the quieter moments.
The recording is from a live session, and all three musicians capitalize on
this to produce a highly original set. Lechusza continually rotates his
horns, creating shifting moods and scenarios with the varying tones. On
the slower pieces, he uses the higher-pitched flute and clarinet, while on
the more robust songs, the darker baritone and bass clarinet emerge. In
all cases, he is into heavy realms of inspiration spun off the song themes.
Each horn, including the alto, is taken into dense areas as he breaks free
with independent and unconstrained action. I particularly liked his bass
clarinet rumblings on "Every Cubic Centimeter" and his aggressive attack on
alto on "Elements", but he is a force on all his reeds. Weaver's tuba
balances the act with growling efficiency, and Eisenstadt shades all of it
with well-adapted and responsive patterns. This trio listens to the music
and responds with a congealing effort. It is a very rewarding album of
challenging and daring p!
laying.
Frank Rubolino (Cadence magazine vol.27 no.9, Sept 2001, p. 41)
AMH trio "live at Field & Frame"
plutonium plu001
Releases like "live at the Field & Frame" serve notice that free
improvisation and outside jazz (...or whatever you want to call it) are
alive and well outside of NYC, Chicago and San Francisco. Though New Mexico
may conjure images of cacti, cowboys and the Cerro Grande fire,
Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos all support an enthusiastic and
knowledgeable audience for new music. Thanks to venues such as
Albuquerque's Outpost Performance Space (operated by multi-reed great Tom
Guralnick), and fearlessly eclectic record labels, such as Zerx Records
(started by writer, raconteur, and DJ Mark Weber as a vehicle for his own
mixed-media creations), some of the artists at the epicenter of the New
Mexico scene (Guralnick, J. A. Deane, Steve Feld, Stefan Dill, Mark Weaver,
and David Parlato - to name just a few) are getting some exposure.
Conversely, New Mexico's home-grown talent is also getting some recognition
from the rest of the world. Tuba-ist Mark Weaver, a member of ensembles le!
d by Deane, Feld, and Parlato, encountered San Diego-based multi-woodwind
player Alan Lechusza while playing in Portland Oregon, in groups led by
trumpeter Rob Blakeslee and trombonist Michael Vlatkovich. To quote
Weaver's own liner note, he and Lechusza "immediately felt an affinity" for
each others' playing, and planned their own project.
Though "live at the Field & Frame" is dominated by Weaver's compositions (6
out of 8 tracks), there is plenty of variety here. Eisenstadt's There are
So Many Stars... is a floating, free-jazz ballad featuring Lechusza on
flute. Lechusza's Number 5 is a more chaotic, angular piece which wouldn't
sound out of place on one of Anthony Braxton's LPs from the mid-70s. Though
not overly complex, Weaver's tunes are replete with unexpected twists and
turns, space for extended improvisations, and opportunities for all sorts
of musical zingers. Percussionist Eisenstadt does a wonderful job of
picking up on the latter on Stitches: his instincts are as sure as his
reflexes, in this regard. Weaver, though he blends magically with Lechusza
on several of the themes and launches a vigorous extended solo on Stitches,
spends most of his time providing a pliant 'air bass' springboard for
Lechusza's (and Eisenstadt's) flights of fancy.
Pentimento starts off with a quirky, angular theme over an edgy rockish
groove, dissolves into a dialogue between tuba and drumkit, and climaxes
with an expressive, Surman-ish, baritone sax solo. In Place Of is somewhat
more somber, with Lechusza's Klezmer-ish clarinet fluttering over
Eisenstadt's purring snare, and Weaver's muttering tuba. My favorite track,
however, is Every Cubic Centimeter, which alternates duo and trio free
improvisations with a choppy 5/4 groove over which Lechusza (on bass
clarinet, here) solos magnificently. Alan Lechusza is definitely a name you
ought to take note of: he is one of those rare multi-woodwind players who
has truly mastered each of his axes. I can't really say which instrument he
sounds best on because he sounds great on each one (...and I am told his
primary instrument is oboe!). Finally, the bare-bones "live-to-two- track"
digital recording is surprisingly crisp and dimensional, though Weaver's
tuba suffers somewhat at the expense of!
Eisenstadt's drums and cymbals.
"live at Field & Frame", available directly from Plutonium Records
(plutoniumrecords.net) and Cadence/Northcountry (www.cadencebuilding.com),
is a great example of what can happen when creative musicians in
out-of-the-way places get to have friends in for a visit and stretch out a
little. I hope that whatever is going on in Albuquerque is also happening
in a town near you.
(www.jazzweekly.com/reviews/amhtrio_live.htm)
AMH Trio: Live at Field & Frame (plutonium plu001)
Protuberance: Treated & Released (zerx 019)
The man behind the plan is Mark Weaver, tuba player extraordinaire. I've
been sitting on the Treated and Released album for too long, always meaning
to review it, but never getting down to it. Now, with Weaver and company's
latest offering, live at Field & Frame, I can kill two birds with one
stone, or rather: place two birds nicely in one bush with a soft hand.
The difference in the two discs is essentially the lineup: Weaver plays
tuba on both, both have a drummer (Harris Eisenstadt on Frame and my good
email buddy Dave Wayne on Treated), but the newest offering has a reed
player (Alan Lechusza) as opposed to a guitar player (Paul Pulaski) on the
earlier release. This makes for very different soundscaping. The two discs
are very similar, but very different.
Live at Field & Frame has moments that sound like the Sakoto Fujii
orchestra. I attribute this quality to Lechusza's bari sax ostinatos on the
first track, doubling the tuba line. The disc is a little noodly in places,
but not too much to be a hindrance. When Lechusza plays clarinet, I am
reminded of Don Byron's Romance with the Unseen, which is a high
compliment. The group has tight, unison lines, and a start/stop quality
that places their musicality on a high plain. This is a good effort into
the compositional avant-garde, or "organized chaos."
Treated & Released has a rusty King Crimson flavor to it, due to the
guitar. Once again, we have organized chaos, but here it has no weaknesses.
The guitar fills the space nicely. There might be less dynamics than Frame
but let me tell you this: I had this disc rotating in my CD Rom player at
work for a full day, non-stop, and I never got bored. We also get a trashy
feel from the guitar, which reminds me of every alternative band in
Richmond, VA in the late 90s, like King Sour, Mao Tse Helen, and Austin,
Texas' Dyn@mutt. Pulaski knows what he's doing.
The flavor of Treated & Released is definitely more alternative rock than
jazz, but the tuba changes everything. The combination of guitar/tuba or
reeds/tuba gives an original quality to both of these discs. I might not be
able to spin live at Field and Frame all day, but the talent is consistent
throughout. The mastermind is Weaver: he is a true compositional talent,
especially in playing such a difficult instrument as the tuba. He doesn't
limit his comps, or make them easier to play. These tunes are difficult and
complex, and he weaves his way through them effortlessly.
Fred Barrett (www.beyondcoltrane.com/albums.cfm)
RADIUS "witch of agnesi"
plutonium plu004
[Altrisuoni 096 and Gemini 107 were also included in the review]
[This recording] presents an intriguing counterpoint to [altrisuoni 096]
in being another quartet entry of "free" music that, for whatever
superficial similarity, is in fact quite different. Unlike those on
[altrisuoni 096], these six tracks don't seem to have any prearranged
sections at all. The musicians, who are all quite convincing, solo one
after the other, with support from the rest a la Ornette's Free Jazz. The
multi-instrumentalist Lechusza plays impassioned bass clarinet, but the
main attraction here is the tuba player, Mark Weaver. I can think of Ray
Draper as another tuba player who has attempted to make his huge horn skip
and dance and improvise, but that's about it, and Draper enjoyed his brief
heyday over forty years ago.
One may charitably assume that tuba soloing is so seldom done because it is
so difficult, and not because the results are so unprepossessing. But
certainly Weaver is at his best here when he is supporting Lechusza - not
because he is an inferior instrumentalist, but because Lechusza has the
advantage of playing instruments that are, by their nature more fleet and
suited to the matters at hand. Still, give him points for effort.
Robert Spencer (Cadence magazine vol.29 no.1, Jan 2003, p. 129)
Quarteto Nuevo - El Musico (lira productions, 2002)
LA Jazz Scene Magazine
QUARTETO NUEVO
EL MUSICO
This is an intriguing set. Although there have been many types of "fusions" of jazz with other types of music, only a relatively few projects have mixed jazz with World Music from foreigh countries. The veteran group Oregon, whose "folk jazz" often avoids blue notes, has unusual tone colors and very original improvising, is the obvious ancestor of Quarteto Nuevo. The newer quintet features Alan Lechusza on oboe, soprano and various flutes, Ken Rosser on sitar and guitars, bassist Alfred Garcia and both Christopher Garcia and Randy Gloss of percussion.
Quarteto Nuevo's music goes through quite a few different moods yet remains gentle, subtle, melodic and often rhythmically complex Lechusza's reeds are in the lead much of the time but the interplay between the members of the rhythm section are well worth listening to closely. From the opening "Invocation" to such songs as the Chick Corea/Stanley Clarke piece "Song toJohn"(dedicated to John Coltrane), Aflfredo Garcia's "Harmonic Sketch #1 and Paul Motian's "Story of Maryam" this CD almost seems like a suite, with one number leading to the next. More information about this excellent Jazz/world music recording is available from www.liraproductions.com
LA JAZZ SCENE - SCOTT YANOW
Jazz Gumbo
Contemporary, Fusion, and World Beat Happenings
Quarteto Nuevo's recent set at Rocco's was quite an international affair, highlighting tracks from their new CD, El Musico. Violinist HarryScorzo sat in with the band consisting of Alfred Garcia - Bass, Christopher Garcia - percussion, Randy Gloss - congas/percussion, Alan Lechusza - reeds, and Ken Rosser-guitar as they proceeded to cover the world musically. Starting in the Middle East, they did an ambient, somewhat dissonant piece, "Invocation" that eventually shifted to North Africa through Rosser's Chinese Lute playing and Lechusza's oboe solo. "Lucia" a gypsy styled number traversed through Eastern Europe accentuated by lively lute and violin exchanges with bass adding texture. For the finale of the set, the band emerged from India with a percussion solo for "Even Picasso couldn't find her." They continued the tune going straight to a neighborhood in Brooklyn by playing an involved fusion of Indian and contemporary jazz. It had a slight classical tinge and was enhanced by great solos fro Garcia(percussion), Lechusza, and Rosser.
LA JAZZ SCENE - SCOTT YANOW
Dave Wayne (editor) on-line newsletter from Santa Fe, New Mexico - Alan Lechusza: woodwind performer
published, Thursday July 31, 2003 Santa Fe/Albuquerque, New Mexico
"Alan Lechusza is easily one of the finest multi-reed
practitioners in the Western US (I was gonna say 'the
world' but you'd think I was exaggerating!), and one
of the most thrilling improvisors that I have ever had
the good fortune to experience. Alan has mastered
pretty much every reed instrument known to man - you
ain't gonna hear no other OBOE solos in Santa Fe this
Saturday!! Plus - after the show, you can talk to him
about hip-hop!!"
Mark Weaver (composer/performer) personal comments on upcoming Plutonium Records release from Albuquerque, New Mexico - Alan Lechusza: woodwind performer
published, Monday August 4, 2003
"...the most satisfying moments on the recording, for me, are when you start your
solo on Minus, after comping behind the end of the cornet solo, you really go
for it and it is a beautiful fiery expression, exactly perfect for that moment..."
GroundWorks Dance Company Review:
The Cleveland Plain Reader, published Sept. 16, 2003
Alan Lechusza: woodwinds and composition
Company commands space with versatility and precision
09/16/03
Paloma McGregor Special to The Plain Dealer
Choreographer David Shimotakahara is a master of manipulating space.
His intense movement vocabulary injects an overflowing sense of tension and longing in the inches between two open palms. His unexpected sequencing carves up intuitions about where a dancer is headed and the perception of how he or she got there. His work's intellectual underpinnings seep into crevices of the mind that are too often left untapped by dance.
From Our Advertiser
On Sunday, Shimotakahara's GroundWorks Dancetheater transformed a 6,000-square-foot warehouse in Akron into an intimate performance venue with three dances that explored the space toward and away from intimacy. The show, which will repeat at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, marks the company's fifth season at The Icehouse, 129 N. Summit Ave., a century-old building that was once, in fact, an ice plant.
From the show's beginnings, Shimotakahara displayed his versatility and that of the three ballet-trained dancers who complete his company: Felise Bagley, Amy Miller and Mark Otloski. In "Major to Minor," a dance from the 6-year-old company's inaugural concert, the small ensemble made full use of Shimotakahara's unique choreographic arsenal of quirky weight shifts, technical precision and astute comic sensibilities.
The dance, set to five vocal jazz standards, explored the joy, confusion, wistfulness and disappointment of love with equal aplomb - with movement ranging from bodies flung into absurd snapshot lifts to pedestrian pantomime to a hilarious cameo appearance by a banana.
The long-standing collaboration between Shimotakahara and composer Gustavo Aguilar now includes the Get Libre Collective, a quartet of accomplished musicians: vocalist Gaelyn Aguilar, guitarist Derek Keller, Alan Lechusza on woodwinds and Gustavo Aguilar on percussion.
In "Ephemeral," Gustavo Aguilar's wood rattles and Lechusza's birdlike wood flute transformed the urban space into a rain forest of sound in a procession from behind the audience. This set the tone for the ritual of circling, advancing and retreating as Otloski and Bagley represented two forces vying for the same seemingly unattainable goal amid two overlapping pools of light. The sinewy dancers' range of movement, from flowing to flittering, was shown off by the minimalistic black leotards designed by Ray Zander.
"Take 2" was a tour de force exploration of the transitory nature of love. With musicians surrounding the stage, the dancers took turns guiding the audience through the journeys of two couples.
In the course of a half-hour, the movement of Miller and Shimotakahara transformed from balanced support and synchronicity to a quiet, parting resignation. Bagley and Otloski's angularity and polarity, a seeming struggle to maintain their independence and to connect only for the purposes of control, yielded in the end to a loving embrace as they left the stage.
The show also will be performed at St. Peter Church, East 17th Street and Superior Avenue, Cleveland, 8 p.m. Oct. 2-4.
Dave Wayne (editor) for Santa Fe Publication (2002)
Alan Lechusza: woodwind performer
hi all-
hope you can make it to this , it is going to be great!!!
what: MAD TRIO, Jazz Trio with Allen Lechusza, Dave Wayne and Mark Weaver
Jazz, free improvisation
when: Thursday October 4 at 7:30 PM
where: PLAN B 1050 Old Pecos Trail
RESERVATIONS 505-982-1338 ext *810
$10 General, $8 Members/Students Available through Plan B or at door
MAD TRIO, Jazz Trio with Allen Lechusza, Dave Wayne and Mark Weaver
Jazz, free improvisation
Free improvisation, for many, conjures up images of intellectual types with
furrowed brows, listening to dissonant sounds. That's enough for some folks,
but what if the musicians involved had deep roots in and active involvement
with all sorts of music: jazz, funk, classical, even polka? The context
become richer, the freedom is freer, the possibilities greater. The MAD
(Mark-Alan-Dave) Trio has the chops, instincts, skills and - most
importantly - the listening skills & sensitivity to transcend the ordinary
racket made by many so-called 'free' improvisers. We like to call it
"instantly composed music for reeds, tuba and drums".
DAVE WAYNE: Irreversibly demented by early exposure to Zappa /Beefheart, has
become a fixture in the very rich free improv / weird jazz / noise rock
scene of the Santa Fe / Albuquerque area.
Alan Lechusza - performer/composer
Alan plays and records with many ensembles including: The Vinny Golia Large
Ensemble, Quartetto Nuevo,, The Aulos Saxophone Quartet , Arc Ensemble, The
Christopher Adler Trio, The Charles Owens Saxophone Summit and Jaagrathy
Mark Weaver
Mark has been playing low-brass instruments since 1970 (trombone in high
school concert and jazz bands). Mark has been performing with the group
Protuberance since 1997, for which he is the main composer. Protuberance
has played concerts with Amy Denio, Bhob Rainey, Greg Kelley, and others.
Protuberance is Mark on tuba, Paul Pulaski on guitar, Dave Wayne on drums.
Mark hosts a radio show on KUNM-FM (Albuquerque) called "The House that Jazz
Built" which focuses on evolutionary and creative music.
San Diego Weekly Reader: Rick Meltzer (author); Metal with Reeds/ Reeds of Metal concerts 2000
REVIEWS
Two guys plaing, well, one of 'em's on saxophone, two saxes
actually -- soprano and baritone -- and the other on piano. Free jazz, or
free enough, in a certain sense very Coltrane-y, in others not at all.
Lechusza, "brings a subtle control over timbre, multiphonics, extended
techniques,
and a boundless melodic inventiveness to a comprehensive aresenal of wind
instruments" 'Specially on baritone.
Adler, meantime, "brings to the piano a harmonic richness and
power taken from his years as an organist, coupled with a senstivity to
nuance and melody developed through years of study of Asian musics."
The look of a classic ECM LP: cover photo, title, everything. But
with a lot more (how you say?) balls in both musique und production.
All you could want from a 68-minute saxophone-piano album.
All?
Or reasonably close.
San Diego Weekly Reader, vol. 29, no. 36; Sept. 7, 2000
--- Richard Meltzer
Christopher Williams (author); Review of "pleistocene", San Diego New Music Newsletter, 2000 - includes short bio/history of Christopher Adler Trio
"pleistocene," the debut record of
improvsations by woodwinds virtuoso Alan Lechusza and
pianist/composer/ethnomusicologist Christopher Adler, is a work of sonic
geology. However, vis-a-vis the monolithic blobs which many contemporary
works of a similar model impose upon their listeners, this album offers
its audience a dynamically seductive array of gestural subtleties.
The seven tracks metamorphose through lucidly delicate harmonic
reflections and explosive saturation with equal parts patience and energy;
at most, if not all points, the plate-like texture shift gracefully, while
still retaining ample momentum and drama. Despite some subjective concerns
regarding the recurrence of climactic overload, most listeners should be
tickled, some awed, by the alubm's over romanticism. It is refreshing to
hear improvisors who pay conscious attention and homage to simple
emotional instinct, even when under the metamorphic pressure of academia,
as both performers are.
The ensemble is convincingly unified in both overall concept and
local detail. Particularly attractive is Lechusza's work on baritone sax;
not only does it dance with the dexterity of his soprano sax playing, but
its radiant sound is remarkable, especially at high volumes. It is indeed
big, hot and just plain sexy. Adler's judicious combination of
jazz-influenced chords and ferocious forearm banging provides the perfect
compliment to make this recording a display of considerable and inviting
solidarity, a quality whose musical translation would make any geologist
proud.
--- Christopher Williams
San Deigo New Music Newsletter, vol. 3, no. 3; jul-sept. 2000
BIO
visionary free jazz and improvised music
the trio
christopher adler piano
alan lechusza woodwinds
vikas srivastava drums
At a fortuitous meeting in early 2000 on the campus of the University of
California San Diego, Alan Lechusza and Christopher Adler found an immediate
resonance of musical languages. Lechusza, a performer, composer and Ph.D.
candidate in UCSD's Critical Studies and Experimental Practices program,
brings a subtle control over timbre, multiphonics, extended techniques, and
a boundless melodic inventiveness to a comprehensive arsenal of wind
instruments. He plays with such highly recognized ensembles as The Vinny
Golia Large Ensemble, Quartteto Nuevo, and the Aulos Saxophone Quartet.
Adler is an internationally recognized composer and performer on the Lao
mouth organ khaen and an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of
San Diego. He brings to the piano a harmonic richness and power taken from
his years as an organist, coupled with a sensitivity to nuance and melody
developed through years of study of Asian musics. Working in an entirely
freely improvised domain, the Duo reaches moments of roaring expressive
intensity, minimalist elegance and lyrical balladry, shaped by a sensitivity
to compositional form and proportion.
In May, 2000, the Duo joined forces with drummer and percussionist Vikas
Srivastava to become the Christopher Adler Trio. Srivastava presents
drumming as a polyrhythmic force of rumbling currents rooted in Indian
traditions and modern jazz philosophy. He combines the experiences of prayer
through cyclical beats as practiced in the temples with cutting edge
improvisation gained through his studies with James R. Cheatham. Vikas is
currently co-owner and operator of the Galoka Restaurant, Jazz Scene and Art
Gallery, San Diego's newest and most vital venue for cutting-edge music.
Also freely improvised, the Trio builds large-scale musical architectures
spanning moments of mystical contemplation and explosions of propulsive
energy.
The Alan Lechusza / Christopher Adler Duo may be heard on Pleistocene, a
compact disc of seven improvisations for soprano and baritone saxophones and
piano.
L.A. Jazz Scene - Review: Craig Jolley (author), March 31, 2001
L.A. Jazzin': Michael Vlatkovich and Henry Franklin
Craig Jolley is your guide to the Los Angeles Jazz Scene
Michael Vlatkovich Septet
Harbor College Recital Hall, Long Beach
March 31, 2001
Michael Vlatkovich - trombone, percussion, compositions; Ed Harkins -
trumpet; Mark Weaver - tuba; Vinny Golia - tenor, bass sax; Alan Lechusza -
bass clarinet, piccolo, clarinet; Anders Swanson - bass; Christopher Garcia
- drums.
Like Roswell Rudd, George Lewis, and others Trombonist Michael Vlatkovich
embraces the humanist, vocal tradition of his instrument (in contrast to the
more technical approach of most bebop-and-after players). His style is
marked by humor and good spirits. He likes to change direction in the middle
of a piece, and he abhors predictability. He sometimes reaches into a
suitcase and pulls out toy instruments to play behind other soloists.
Vlatkovich's writing is key to this band. With five horns he is able to
realize a wide variety of ensemble color. The ensemble playing was
particularly strong and true to the spirit of the music.
"Way, Way Down Home" was not a blues, but it had that old-time blues feel.
Harkins slowed his trumpet solo down to a lope over a bass ostinato. Bass
sax accompanied by a two-note tuba riff introduced "Blue Robes," a piece
played mostly by the ensemble. Lechusza switched to piccolo for a
"breathing" (in-out) out-of-breath solo. Bass sax over tuba with the in-out
motif finished the piece. Swanson led the ensemble on a Mingus-inspired
"There Is None," a piece with chord changes and boppish band riffing behind
horn and drum solos. An ensemble walking bass by tuba and bass violin
distinguished the New Orleans flavored "Queen Dynamo." Vlatkovich played the
lead with Harkins in counterpoint while Lechusza (clarinet) played obbligato
on top of the lead. Tubaist Weaver took his most extended solo of the
evening.
A programmatic "Going West on North Eastgate" evoked the stop and go of
traffic with car horns (honk-honk-honk) evoked by Golia and passed around
the band. Vlatkovich worked a plunger mute during his solo. Garcia finished
with a drum solo (mostly rims) based on the honk-honk-honk motif. "Leg Belly
Knee Unaware of Pride" included three-way free play between bass, bass
clarinet, and bass sax with the brass gradually joining in. Bass and drums
teamed up for a "Hernando's Hideaway" riff behind the trumpet solo. The
piece finished with a minor key Spanish theme played by the full ensemble
with a street band feel. Golia (tenor) was featured on "We Become the
Furniture in our Homes" over an Ellington-tinged ensemble. Swanson's arco
(bowed) solo led into bass free association with the band resolving into
broad parody, Vlatkovich switching to bucket mute.
Vlatkovich discography: http://www.lirapro ductions.com/Michael_Vlatkovich.html
The Falconer (Torrey Pines High School) March 11, 2004 vlm 30, issue 7 Review: Side A/Side B - a night full of diverse musical imporivisation, Robin Perenchio (Entertainment Editor).
Hidden beneath towering cement buildings, three flights of stairs and through a narrow hallway was a room filled with rows and rows of instruments waiting to express emotions and ideas not yet heard by any ear. These instruments were soon met by a collection of 25 musicians prepared for an evening of expressive and creative imporvisation and creation, a presentation known as Side A/ Side B.
The annual concert, taking place on Feb. 27th and 28th, just completing its fifth year, was created by Alan Lechusza, the assistant professor of woodwinds at UCSD. Lechusza is also a frequent contributor to the TPHS music program.
"I wrote, produced and organized everything that you see here. I am the sole creator," Lechusza said.
The concert, which took place on two consecutive nights in two different locations, Side A on Firday at Erickson Hall, and Side B on Saturday eveing at the Los Angeles Harbor College. Although both nights had their own focuses, each were purposefully interrelated.
"For me, there is only one music and that's the music which we hear and experience. There is no separation between anything. Therefore, Side A/B is not a separating project but a dialoguing arena for the composed music," Lechusza said.
Side A/Side B was always intended to be a two-night musical experience but this is the first year Lechusza was able to make this dream happen. The two consecutive shows work off each other yet Lechusza suggests that Side A and Side B are different in that Side A utilizes more "artistic paradigms," while Side B took on Lechusza's and the musicians take on more contemporary popular music.
"I wanted to bring together all the different music that influences me into one large ensebmle project mixed together. As time progressed, the halves became more balanced between seemingly different musical camps; Western art music and popular music," Lechusza said.
Lechusza counts a wide variety of music, for example, film scores to rap and hip hop, as some of his musical influences. All of his musical influences seem to show up in his work.
"I have a lot of diverse influences; the music I write is very diverse. I bring [different types of music] all together into one forum, so you have music that is heavy metal, that are marches, that are punk tunes, hip hop, rap [in a] a collective situation where the transitional materials between the written page make the music come to life through improvisation," Lechusza said.
Featured in the Side A portion of the performance was a wide range of instruments that varied from typical orchestral instruments such as flutes, clarinets, saxophones and trumpets, as well as instruments not usually seen in a traditional setting: turntables, electric bass and guitar and even a spoken word performer, Arash Haile, who reveled in the vivacious energy of the crowd.
"The energy of the crowd kept going back and forth. Most people who come to watch concerts just sit there. But the crowd really felt participatory and escstatic instead of just watching," Haile said.
It is both this interaction and the improvisation that proved to be vital elements in the Side A/Side B concert. Similarily, the fact that the music at each concert is performed soley that night is also an important factor.
"The improvisation in Side A/Side B is used in a number of different manners. It's connective material between selections/compositions, it's written within a composition, or it's appointed 'in the moment' by the conductor," Lechusza said.
Side A/Side B was free, something that Lechusza feels necessary to its creative vitality and musical intention.
"I do it for free because the venue has me do it for free, but also because I think it is important for everyone to come see it," Lechusza said.
Holding the concert for free at both of its locations also gives Lechusza the chance to share his passion withthe students he has taught and influenced at TPHS. He was the woodwind coach and artist-in-resdience for roughly three years, taught jazz theory and contemporary music composition classes as well as coached a variety of ensembles at TPHS.
"It gives the high school students the opportunity to see me crossing this boundry between educator and performer, composer and musician, and it gives them the chance to experience what I do on a very visceral, very critical and very open platform," Lechusza said.
It is this passion that Lechusza exudes about music, composing, teaching, producing and performing, that proved Side A/Side B to be a true creative experience for both the musicians and audience members.
San Diego New Music Newsletter, Spring-Summer 2004, vlm 6, issue 3 Performance Review: Alan Lechusza's Side A/ Side B - Erickson Hall at UCSD, Feb. 27, 2004, Curtis Glatter
On Feburary 27, 2004 a curious audience filed in to the fifth annual Side A/Side B concert presented by composer/improviser Alan Lechusza. As I took my seat, I was expecting to hear two very different sets of music broken up by a fifteen-minute intermission, as in previous years. However as I analyzed the stage and glanced at the program notes, I noticed that the program was broken up into two consecutive nights (the second at Los Angeles Harbor College, presented by Lira Productions) and that the acoustic bass and percussion sections were smaller than last year. Also, the concert lineup was graced with virtuoso improviser and composer Vinny Golia, seated next to Lechusza. Based on the appearance of so many experienced and fresh faces in teh ensemble, it appeared that Lechusza assembled many of his peers from past, present and future. Musicans from the likes of Anthony Davis on piano, Robert Zelickman on clarinets to Reiko Manabe on flutes to DJ Predakon on turntables were all featured guests during the performance. Throughout the evening I noticed that the improvisations and through-composed music frequently demonstrated many extended harmonic voicing techniques as well as a well-balanced use of electronic amplification and acoustic instrumentation enhancing the music for a richer sonority and pristine melodic audibility.
As Nathan Hubbard opened the night solemnly striking the timpani, gongs and marimba, Los Angeles-based drummer Christopher Garcia added accents on the cymbals to spice up the mood of the music. After the dramatic introduction, conductor Christopher Adler began to cue the musicians into the mix transforming the music from a meditative invocation to something of an audio-representation of a Jurassic birth-rite with motives emitting from the low brass and strings that growled and shimmered. Although each the musicians went beyond their ability to present evocative musical performances, some notable highlights of the evening included the solos of Karthik Suresh on electric bass and the large ensemble hip-hop led by Arash Haile's spoken-word performance. For Side A/Side B, Lechusza's compositions included hard-driving swing sections and hip-hop grooves as well as strategic acents written for the large ensemble that added momentum, urgency and vibrancy to the music. After the ensemble had played through a composition by Lechusza they were then cued by Adler to improvise as a large ensemble evoking the ghost of Ellington colliding with Penderecki. Some of the most exciting improvisations of the night also came from Carolyn Tyner on electric cello adding a dimesion not heard in previous years as she used her fingers and palms to scrape and slide over the neck of the cello with accelerating glissandos from the tail to the headstock. Pianist Anthony Davis highlighted the night's performance with an unaccompanied solo utilizing dramatic accents, large melodic octave leaps flirting with the blues while keeping his foot firmly planeted in post-modern expressionism. Davis' bold and introspective piano styled seemed to reward the music with a new found breath of energy. The wickedly rapid improvisations by Lechusza, Golia and the woodwind section also re-ignited the music adding enthusiasm to the crowd's response. In the end, the event was a rewarding showcase of very diverse musicans featuring the post-apocalyptic music of Alan Lechusza. The danger of showcasing numerous musicians from such diversebackgrounds is that it may create pastiche or abstract disconnection between the musicians who are unwilling to stop, look and listen to each performer. During this concert, however, I felt that there was ample respect and space given to each performer from the experienced improvisers all the way over to the new faces in the ensemble. The fact that everyone was able to share their inimitavle personality and technical virtuosity throughout the night proved that there was an affirmative creative intercourse between the musicians. I commend Alan Lechusza for attempting to diminish the gap between "naive" and "academic" art forms. Also the enthusiastic efforts made by Christopher Adler as conductor to champion the music of Lechusza were an impressive addition to the ensemble. Indeed as the program notes indicate: "no one is innocent" in Lechusza's music and no genre was left unexplored.
The new Nine Winds release by soNu presents the eclectic band as a cultural database that, through group improvisation and subtle compositional cues, manages to incorporate serialism, post-serialism, Mexican folkloric music, non-Western classical music, Norwegian folk song, Native American music, rock, future electronics, and hip hop into its musings. Nina Sun Eidsheim sings and interjects electronics; Phil Curtis also contributes electronics. Alan Lechusza plays woodwinds, and Gustavo Aguilar handles percussion. All four compose and have extensive resumes in and out of academia and free jazz.
The recording opens with the first of three covers of AACM members compositions, Wadada Leo Smiths The Lady of the Dark Sonnets/Mississippi Delta. Curtis sends electro bolts squealing through the studio, soon joined by Lechusza on bass sax. The thick earthy tone contrasts nicely with the shifty synth smears. Eidsheim sings the tricky melody operatically, Curtiss shimmery environment around her. Aguilar adds soft clatterings. Nine Winds CEO Vinny Golia joins the ensemble for Rebound. Lechusza plays Native American flute with Aguilars subtle wind chimes. Eidshem improvises processed vocals over metallic electric rumblings, and Aguilars loose drumset stampedes with the dark synthesizer tones. After Lechuszas vivid trips on wood flute, Golia sweeps through on C-flute.
Anthony Braxtons Composition Nr.287+98a sends Lechusza flying on alto, slowing for the composed duet with Eidshem. Curtis handles the aviation from his keyboard, Aguilar dropping lag time beats. Eidshem treats her vocals with Curtis sci-fi sounds throbbing.
Industrial sounds and held tone vocals announce George Lewis Players. Throughout the piece, players speak to one another, announcing the next segment (Gustavo, play me, Nina, sing something nice Ensemble, please join me in a very very loud and furious improvisation). Lechusza goes long on clarinet as someone effectively riffs on toy piano. Aguilar and Lechusza play a brief duet, before processed vocals and sampled noise take over. The bass sax holds a tone while quick synth spray hits a serene kalimba. Lechusza returns to clarinet, this time solo. Sound On Sound for Roscoe Mitchell could be a remix dance hit for Nine Winds. Arash Hailes hip hop-inspired vocal finds a niche in the bands ability to face the funk, and deconstruct the funk. Curtis continues flooding the track with roiling sound; Eidshem improvises and occasionally returns to Swing Low Sweet Chariot. Lechusza brings back the rhythm on bass sax, with Aguilar following.
With each member of the quartet bringing a wealth of aural information, SoNu have realized a multi-culti vision rich in texture and imagination.
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