Non è un’operazione nostalgica e nemmeno un revival la ricognizione che da qualche anno Ernst Reijseger al violoncello, Angelo Conto al pianoforte e Simone Bosco alla batteria e percussioni, conducono nel proprio percorso musicale; piuttosto sembra una trovata per dire e proporre musica di un certo spessore. Certo non si può proprio pensare ad architetture sonore nuove di pacca, ma l’operazione odora di ricerca, tenta di restituire agli ascoltatori un aspetto culturale slegato dai meri contenuti di mercato di cui la musica è da diversi anni traboccante. Nascono così musiche ben diverse e nuove dimensioni, derivate dal felice incontro dell’interplay jazzistico e quello della musica d’avanguardia, imperniata sul gioco della variazione e microvariazione di cellule tematiche.

Recorded in June of 1965 and released posthumously in 1970, Transition acts as a neat perforation mark between Coltrane's classic quartet and the cosmic explorations that would follow until Trane's passing in 1967. Recorded seven months after the standard-setting A Love Supreme, Transition's first half bears much in common with that groundbreaking set. Spiritually reaching and burningly intense, the quartet is playing at full steam, but still shy of the total free exploration that would follow mere months later on records like Sun Ship and the mystical atonal darkness that came in the fall of that same year with Om. McCoy Tyner's gloriously roaming piano chord clusters add depth and counterpoint to Coltrane's ferocious lyrical runs on the five-part suite that makes up the album's second half…

The Atipico Trio's Gone with the Winds could also be called "Three Guys Passing Wind" or "Middle-Aged Farts at Play." No disrespect meant; in fact, quite the opposite. The clarinet, saxophone, and voice trio (each member does everything, sometimes at once) is comprised of Carlo Actis Dato, Sandro Cerino, and Stefano Corradi, sly dogs all. They would have you believe by their album cover – and the fact that they dedicate their works to aunts, pharmacists, dogs, etc…

Issued in 1968, more than a year after John Coltrane's death, Cosmic Music is co-credited to John and Alice Coltrane. Trane appears on only two of the four tracks here (they are also the longest): "Manifestation" and "Dr. King." They were both cut in February of 1966 at Coast Recorders in San Francisco, with the great saxophonist fronting his final quintet with Alice, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, and Ray Appleton adding percussion. "Manifestation" is also the first recorded instance of Sanders playing the piccolo in addition to his tenor saxophone; he takes an extended solo on the instrument. "Dr. King" was written to honor the civil rights leader during his lifetime. King's assassination occurred less than a year after the saxophonist's death…

Violinist Billy Bang uses the same instrumentation on this set as on his previous The Fire From Within, although his sextet had two new members: trumpeter Roy Campbell and drummer Zen Matsuura. A more rhythmic album, this melodic avant-garde set rewards repeated listenings and has an impressive amount of variety.

Recorded at two sessions in early 1967, Expression represents John Coltrane's final recording sessions just months before his death. A varied and searching record, Coltrane shares space with fellow universal travelers Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, and wife Alice Coltrane. This band, working hard during the time leading up to Coltrane's demise, was performing in the most spiritually reaching territory Coltrane would aspire to. This is evidenced by the burning tenor/drum duet section of "Offering," perhaps the highlight of these sessions. Coltrane and Ali spiral into the far reaches here with a boundless energy that somehow remains controlled and restrained even in its rawest moments…

The classic John Coltrane Quartet made one of its final appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965. The tension among bandmembers is evident on the advanced versions of "One Down, One Up" and "My Favorite Things." Coltrane's performance is moving…yet weary. It's apparent the saxophonist wasn't getting the sound he wanted and by the end of the year he would take a different direction, hiring Pharoah Sanders and wife Alice Coltrane for the band. Tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp's earlier afternoon New Thing performance includes engaging versions of "Call Me by My Rightful Name" and "Gingerbread, Gingerbread Boy" (included as a bonus track on this package) with Bobby Hutcherson on vibes.

Rob Blakeslee Quintet - Lifeline (1994) {Nine Winds Records NWCD 0147 rec 1992}
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© 1992, 1994 Nine Winds Records | NWCD 0147
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Post Bop / Contemporary Jazz / Trumpet

The opening ensembles of "Just off the Avenue" at first make it sound as if this is going to be a conventional hard bop quintet date, but that feeling is quickly dispelled. The music becomes progressively freer, and after a fairly straight-ahead trumpet solo from leader Rob Blakeslee (who contributed the five originals), pianist Tad Weed takes the music outside, where it remains during Vinny Golia's baritone solo before the band swings its way out. All five selections are lengthy and they often go in unexpected directions.

Cecil Taylor - The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (2010) {5CD Set, CAM Jazz BXS1007 rec 1979-1986}
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© 1984-86, 2010 CAM Jazz / Black Saint / Soul Note | BXS 1007
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Improvised Music / Piano

The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note is a monographic box-set collection aimed at recounting the most beautiful chapters that revolutionised the history of jazz. A deep philological work, beginning with the original recordings on original master tapes, patiently integrally remastered paying strict attention to sound quality.

Cecil Taylor - The Tree Of Life (1991) {FMP CD 98 rel 1998}
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© 1991, 1998 Free Music Production | FMP CD 98
Jazz / Modern Creative / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano

This "thank you" concert to the city of Berlin at the end of Cecil Taylor's six-month stay there in 1990 is a lovely, vibrant affair. In trademark fashion, "The Tree of Life" is one work, broken up into five "periods" or movements. The invocation in period one doesn't even feature a piano, just empty space and Taylor's voice creating a kind of spirit ground for him to play from. "Period 2" is where things actually begin. Taylor begins in ballad form; long eighths and ninths are extended into minor-key formations and distillations of mode and harmonic interval. There is a kind of distended harmony at work, with left and right hands playing opposite each other in perfect formation and rhythm: One idea, or theme, cancels out the previous one and sets up a new paradigm for consideration over the course of a 12 or 13 measures.