{"id":5693,"date":"2023-02-26T22:06:26","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T04:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=5693"},"modified":"2023-02-26T22:06:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T04:06:31","slug":"february-2023-capsule-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/february-2023-capsule-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"February 2023 Capsule Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For February &#8211; just under the wire &#8211; we provide capsule reviews of recent works with an eye towards avant-garde expressionism. Two of the selections explore the contributions of legends of the music, while the others showcase the voices of younger practitioners of the craft. For this month, only one of these albums &#8211; Mat Muntz\u2019s <em>Phantom Islands <\/em>(Orenda, 2023) &#8211; came out in February proper. Another &#8211; Richard Koloda\u2019s <em>Holy Ghost: The Life &amp; Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler <\/em>(Jawbone, 2022) is not even a recording. The others &#8211; Art Ensemble of Chicago\u2019s <em>The Sixth Decade: From Paris To Paris <\/em>(RogueArt, 2023) and Cory Smythe\u2019s <em>Smoke Gets In Your Eyes<\/em> (Pyroclastic, 2022) &#8211; came out last month and last year, respectively, but are still worthy of comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Art Ensemble of Chicago &#8211; <em>The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"350\" height=\"470\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 350px; height: 470px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=2309433988\/album=3187429190\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is one thing to craft a creative motto. It is quite another to live it. Since 1969, the Art Ensemble has stayed true to its promise of \u201cGreat Black Music &#8211; Ancient to Future.\u201d The immediately preceding <em>We are on the Edge\u00a0(A 50th Anniversary Celebration) <\/em>(Pi, 2019), confirmed that the listening world is still trying to catch up to the AEC\u2019s ideas that sounded ahead of their time a half-century earlier. <em>The Sixth Decade<\/em>, a live recording from early 2020 at Festival Sons d\u2019hiver, further underscores the continued vibrancy of the Ensemble\u2019s core message, even as most of its original members &#8211; only Roscoe Mitchell and Famoudou Don Moye remain &#8211; are now but spirits left in the music. As it has done throughout its history, the Art Ensemble remains unconstrained by artistic precepts and styles. This modern chamber orchestra conception of the group reaches its zenith when the shifts in stylistic concepts are utterly unpredictable, as on \u201cLeola\u201d where low tone pulsations morph into haunting operatic vocals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cory Smythe &#8211; <em>Smoke Gets in Your Eyes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"350\" height=\"470\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 350px; height: 470px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=1103532642\/album=3062730382\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Standards play an important role in training future musicians and providing a piece upon which musicians can more easily converse in their improvisations. Given their familiarity, there can often be monotony in performing these once-inspiring tunes. The best approach to standards lies in cases where artists reappropriate the song\u2019s core to create a new language. For example, Bird\u2019s crafting of Ko Ko out of the chordal remnants of \u201cCherokee.\u201d One-half of Smythe\u2019s latest album follows this model by loosely adapting Kern and Harbach\u2019s classic into a collection of mutated strings, altered resonances, and toneless whirs. These solo piano expeditions are equally imposing and familiar. On the rest of the album, the standard is less a direct compositional source and more a narrative one, providing the theme of climate change. These series of \u201cLiquiforms\u201d and \u201cCombustions\u201d are provided by a larger ensemble\u2019s isolated bursts of sound which alternatively flow into and ignite one another.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Richard Koloda &#8211; <em>Holy Ghost: The Life &amp; Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Holy-Ghost-Death-Pioneer-Albert-ebook\/dp\/B0BC1CX3N5?ref_=ast_author_mpb\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/kxglz3vkwuJ2ism4hIcdsqFALJ3YX2rcvqaHSjb529eHZrhnwtLnwbstbcRGXjD1SH0iJUef5_XjF6rEKCam0uyOl3FuAvVxkKRMjVuENKVaiRetBZaFU3b2Sh0c571KRq9prmLsq7x1r2KuwH6TL0c\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given his significance, it is surprising how little is written about Albert Ayler\u2019s life. Oh, people know the highlights. His time in the military. A discography from the brilliance of <em>Spiritual Unity <\/em>(ESP, 1964) to the much-maligned <em>New Grass<\/em> (Impulse!, 1969). His tragic end in the East River. But, far too often, these events are treated as isolated moments and not properly contextualized within the longer timeline of a brilliant artist\u2019s life. Koloda\u2019s twenty years of research on the subject and longtime friendship with Donald Ayler help him present arguably the most definitive biography of the subject to date. At times Koloda presents controversial theses &#8211; among them that Ayler enlisted primarily to avoid paying child support or how significantly Ayler influenced Coltrane- but strongly supports his contentions. If <em>Holy Ghost<\/em> can be faulted for anything, it is that Koloda sometimes goes into too much detail. One does not necessarily need to know Ayler\u2019s social security number, for instance. But overall, it is a compelling read and a great addition to the literature on the history of free improvisation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mat Muntz &#8211; <em>Phantom Islands<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"350\" height=\"470\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 350px; height: 470px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=322328017\/album=3536312065\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is something special about artists who feel so unconstrained by the status quo that, even in its broadest terms, the very concept of their work is without precedent. While the bagpipes are uncommon in improvised music, Rufus Harley and others have created some history. How many people outside Croatia have heard of Muntz\u2019s primorski meh in any context? The rest of the group is unconventionally orchestrated- featuring guitar, oboe, and Yuma Uesaka on clarinets. The compositions emphasize unusual tunings and microtonality. The confluence of foreign influences provides exotic trappings for this\u00a0 &#8220;folk music from nowhere.\u201d Yet, like any other music of and from the people, there is an emotional rawness that shines through regardless of the language used. Under the surface of \u201cDzig No. 1\u201d, the non-chanter horns form melodies ripe for dancing. \u201cThree Mirages, Small Town Blues\u201d seemingly tells of an unknown peoples\u2019 stories of sorrow. If anything, the alien terrain permits shared cross-cultural messages to emerge from the music\u2019s heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For February &#8211; just under the wire &#8211; we provide capsule reviews of recent works with an eye towards avant-garde expressionism. Two of the selections explore the contributions of legends of the music, while the others showcase the voices of younger practitioners of the craft. For this month, only one of these albums &#8211; Mat [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":25,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-capsule-reviews-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/BeFunky-collage-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peRkRR-1tP","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5537,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/january-2023-capsule-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":5693,"position":0},"title":"January 2023 Capsule Reviews","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"January 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"With the start of a new year, we also start a new feature on this site. These capsule reviews aim to provide very brief reviews - a few hundred words at most - of albums of note which have come out around the month at issue. For this month, only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Capsule Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Capsule Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/capsule-reviews-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BeFunky-collage21.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BeFunky-collage21.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BeFunky-collage21.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BeFunky-collage21.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5549,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/thumbscrew-multicolored-midnight\/","url_meta":{"origin":5693,"position":1},"title":"Review: Thumbscrew\u2019s \u2018Multicolored Midnight\u2019","author":"John Chacona","date":"January 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The fourth cut on Thumbscrew\u2019s\u00a0Multicolored Midnight\u00a0(Cuneiform, 2022) is entitled \u201cShit Changes.\u201d You don\u2019t have to be a climate scientist or Sam Bankman-Fried to appreciate the truth of that phrase, and it could just be another of bassist Michael Formanek\u2019s cheekily subversive titles. Yet despite ten years of consistently provocative and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Album Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Album Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/artist_photo-Thumbscrew-2022-1-credit_Brian_Cohen.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/artist_photo-Thumbscrew-2022-1-credit_Brian_Cohen.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/artist_photo-Thumbscrew-2022-1-credit_Brian_Cohen.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/artist_photo-Thumbscrew-2022-1-credit_Brian_Cohen.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5804,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/april-2023-capsule-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":5693,"position":2},"title":"April 2023 Capsule Reviews","author":"PostGenre Writing Staff","date":"April 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"For April, Brian Kiwanuka and Rob Shepherd provide capsule reviews of four recordings by saxophonists who are pushing music in new directions: Ingrid Laubrock\u2019s\u00a0The Last Quiet Place\u00a0(Pyroclastic, 2023) [which you can also read more about here], James Brandon Lewis\u2019\u00a0Eye of I\u00a0(Anti, 2023), Ben Wendel's All One\u00a0(Edition, 2023), and John Zorn's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Capsule Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Capsule Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/capsule-reviews-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/img_5257.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/img_5257.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/img_5257.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/img_5257.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5740,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/march-2023-capsule-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":5693,"position":3},"title":"March 2023 Capsule Reviews","author":"PostGenre Writing Staff","date":"March 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"For March, Brian Kiwanuka and Rob Shepherd provide capsule reviews of three recordings \u2013 C\u00e9cile McLorin Salvant's Melusine (Nonesuch, 2023), Tomas Fujiwara's March On (Firehouse 12, 2023), and Rubin Kodheli's Departure (self-release, 2023)- and a SXSW performance venue - the Qobuz Sessions at KMFA Studios. C\u00e9cile McLorin Salvant-\u00a0Melusine C\u00e9cile McLorin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Capsule Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Capsule Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/capsule-reviews-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Image.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Image.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Image.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Image.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7350,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/best-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":5693,"position":4},"title":"PostGenre&#8217;s Best of 2023","author":"PostGenre Writing Staff","date":"December 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Below are the albums we collectively felt were the best of 2023 (technically from Thanksgiving 2022 to Thanksgiving 2023). Ties are ordered alphabetically by the leader\u2019s last name. Following the list are honorable mentions; recordings multiple members of our small group thought worthy of merit but did not make the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Best of Lists&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Best of Lists","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/lists-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/original-4AA5FD17-5CE0-4D46-9496-99CA70683F50.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/original-4AA5FD17-5CE0-4D46-9496-99CA70683F50.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/original-4AA5FD17-5CE0-4D46-9496-99CA70683F50.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/original-4AA5FD17-5CE0-4D46-9496-99CA70683F50.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5693"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5699,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5693\/revisions\/5699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}