Jazz Figures

Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
Katie King grew up in Eugene, Oregon, where she began listening to jazz records at the age of eleven. "I was in a record store when I first heard Billy Holiday; I just had to buy the album." From then on, she was hooked. Soon she was listening to and learning from the great vocal styles of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and Carmen McRae. Since landing in Seattle in 1990, Katie has become a bright light in Seattle's already glowing cadre of jazz perfomers, building her reputation as one of the area's best and most versatile jazz singers.

Band members: Katie King, vocals; Jay Thomas, trumpet & saxes; Bob Nixon, piano; Jeff Johnson, bass; Steven Bentley, drums; Harry Holbert, guitar.

Album Description
Katie King and her quartet introduce lyrics, energy and sophistication to jazz heads by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and Wayne Shorter.

Tracks:

Smack-A-Mac
Bess, You Is My Woman Now
Cherokee
Love, Where Are You?
The Moon Was Yellow
Au Privave
Ruby, My Dear
Simplicity And Beauty
Never Again

Average customer rating:

an uneven set of Frith compositions (mainly) for string quartet

Eleventh Hour

Manufacturer: Winter & Winter
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0006M4TWM
Release Date: 2005-04-12

Tracks:

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VIII.
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V.

Tracks:

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Album Description

Fred Firth is driven by a powerful creative energy, a desire to experiment, and a never-ending interest in life and all of its facets. He is one of the most prominent rock musicians to explore the possibilities of free improvisation and new classical forms, playing on albums by the Residents, Brian Eno, Amy Denio and Rene Lussier, to name but a few.

Customer Reviews:

an uneven set of Frith compositions (mainly) for string quartet.......2005-07-09

ELEVENTH HOUR is a very stylish package from the German Winter & Winter label, with cover art by Ursula Eichinger and eight more of her paintings in the booklet, all the same design but in different colors. Unfortunately, the music inside is of mixed quality. There are five pieces in all. Two of them are quite good ("Tense Serenity" and "Allegory"), one is good ("Lelekovice"), and two are not good ("Fell" and "Stick Figures"). Amazingly, the main musicians are the Arditti Quartet, you can't get any better than that!, but this is not among the best music they have ever performed.

Fred Frith, originally of Yorkshire, who began a long multifarious musical career with the British progressive rock group Henry the Cow in the late 1960s, has lately turned toward contemporary classical. Now a professor of composition at Mills College in the Bay Area, he spent the '80s in NYC's "downtown" scene with John Zorn and others, and the '90s in Germany where he connected with the W&W label, the AQ, composer Heiner Goebbels, and others.

The first piece "Lelekovice" (1990), in nine short movements, was written to accompany a dance. It's quite lively, in an Eastern European folk music mode -- Bartok of course springs to mind, though there is nothing in it nearly as thorny as his most complex quartets. "Tense Serenity" (1997), in five movements, is for string trio and trombone -- Uwe Dierksen plays trombone, and Graeme Jennings of Arditti sits out. The central movement features AMM/Keith Rowe-style radio fragments of songs and speakers, as well as what sounds like a flute, apparently produced by the strings. "Allegory" (2001), in three movements, is for string quartet and electric guitar. Frith's guitar is very subtly employed, and for much of the piece he is either silent or nearly so. Fair warning for those looking for flashy guitar pyrotechnics! These two pieces show what Frith can do, and though neither reveals a strong voice or unique style, they are fine examples of the European postserialist sonic landscape.

The two pieces that fill the rest of the second disc I consider outright failures. "Stick Figures" (1990) is for "6 guitars and 2 players," but all I can hear is two guitars -- one scrapes on the strings in what might be a simplistic parody of the experimental explorations of Hans Reichel, AMM's Keith Rowe and Frith, while another guitar regularly chimes a loud chord that sounds like a fragment of a Morricone soundtrack to a Sergio Leone western. "Fell" (2001), for string quartet and electric guitar, is also very simplistic, a descending series of chords for the strings, with periodic anguished squawks from the guitar. It seems to symbolize a soul's fall into Hell, or any number of more concrete and specific cases of flesh-and-blood humans falling into pain, death and despair.

ELEVENTH HOUR could have been a solid 4-star disc if "Allegory" had been included with "Lelekovice" and "Tense Serenity" on one disc, which would only be slightly over 70' long. I am certainly glad that Frith perseveres in creating adventurous music that is difficult to categorize, but I wonder if there might not be too much concept and too little music in more than just this one Frith project.

I know from interviews that Fred Frith shares my worldview (more or less), but I still have to guess at what the title means -- it seems clear to me that humans on Earth are in "the Eleventh Hour" in that we face an environmental crisis, and we may well still destroy ourselves if we don't develop more advanced and cooperative social institutions. (See my OVERSHOOT AND COLLAPSE? list.) In the meantime, I'm glad that Frith and I have both entered the world of contemporary classical music.

Average customer rating:

Composition with Three Figures
Michel Lambert
Manufacturer: Jazz from Rant
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CA3AVO
Release Date: 2003-06-24

Tracks:

Ut
Creer-Acti-Vite
Fri (Free)
Valse a l'Archet
(D)compose(D)
Open Window
Points
Pendule
Geachte Groetjes (Aan Misha)
Fruit
Mist-Air
Temps-Du

Average customer rating:

Stick Figures
Terry Bowness
Manufacturer: Aardvark Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00009R5T4
Release Date: 2003-05-01

Tracks:

Might As Well
Mother And Child
Falling Freely
Cranberry Sauce
Dark Matter
Tabula Rasa
Asteroids
Sweet Pea
Across the Universe

Album Description

Austin, Texas-based jazz pianist and composer Terry Bowness follows his critically acclaimed 1999 self-titled debut with eight original compositions and an arrangement of Lennon/McCartney's "Across the Universe". Terry is joined by locally and nationally known artists, including Mitch Watkins, Roscoe Beck, David Grissom, Brannen Temple and others.

Average customer rating:

The Patsy - Motion Picture Soundtrack

Manufacturer: Tadcaster
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0002IYLBY
Release Date: 2004-06-30

Tracks:

Prelude
Title Music
Sunday Dinner
Tony Arrives
Ice Cream
Pat's Burden
Pa and Pat
Preparing for the Affair
Dress of Contention
Which Car?
You're Marvelous, Baby
Yacht Club
Consommoup
Billy Arrives
Prankster Waiter
Grace and Billy
Right to Your Feet (Love Theme from "The Patsy")
Hopelessly in Love
What to Say and When
History of Insanity
Got Personality?
Telephone Call
I'll Be Right Up
You've Got Your Honey
Where's Grace?
A Woman's Viewpoint
His Interests
You'd Be Surprised
My Property
Ain't Hungry
Girl Knew Her Onions
Execute the Plan (Part I)
Execute the Plan (Part II)
Help!
Ten Years Ago
A Dog Wouldn't Live Here
Denouement/Closing Credits

Product Description

A stylish and fluid film score that combines bold orchestration, clever Vaudevillian comedy, and modern jazz figures

Average customer rating:

Jazz Figures

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Traditional & Vocal Pop | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000G45Y
Release Date: 1999-01-01

Tracks:

Tell Me yess Or No
Follow The Footsteps
All The Notes Are Blue
I Need Rest
I'm In Fall
Timeless Moments
The Prince
Time Remembered
All The Notes Are Blue

Album Description

Katie King and her quartet introduce lyrics, energy and sophistication to jazz heads by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and Wayne Shorter.

Average customer rating:

Great !!
"Figures of the True" certainly adds up!

Figures Of The True
Ray Lyon
Manufacturer: Burning Blue Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004VXQQ
Release Date: 2000-06-19

Tracks:

Valley Of Vision
The Yearning Sky
Under The Waterspouts
My Sun, My Shield
Waiting For April
Signs + Wonders
Heart On A Suncloud
Old Paths
Things To Come (The Land of Far Distances)

Album Description

Ray Lyon's "Figures Of The True" is a powerful collection of biblically based contemporary instrumental jazz compositions in a style reminiscent of such jazz artists as the Pat Metheny Group and Yellowjackets. With a fresh and original approach all his own, Ray is a skillful and melodic keyboardist who is equally adept on both acoustic piano and synthesizers. "Figures Of The True" combines exquisite textures and grooves, soaring synth leads and burning piano solos into an exciting mix that is richly panoramic, evocative, and inspiring. Produced and recorded over a five year period at his own studio, Balsam Pillow, this recording is Ray^Rs second release on his own label, Burning Blue Records.

The title, inspired by Christian writer and missionary Amy Carmichael, is a saying she coined in one of the many devotional books she has written. A "figure of the true" is something seen in the creation that reflects a spiritual truth. (see Hebrews 9:24) The project is a collection of songs designed to reflect a spiritual truth regarding life's experiences, the second coming of Christ, or the Divine Patterns behind the reality of all of creation. Accompanied by selected writings both by Ray, other authors, and bible passages, some of these themes include suffering, peace, searching, and joy.

"Figures Of The True" features guest appearances by Yellowjackets bassist Jimmy Haslip, Jonathan Joseph (drummer for Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny, David Sanborn, Joe Zawinul, and Richard Bona), and Blue Man Group drummer/musician Jeff Quay among others.

Customer Reviews:

Great !!.......2003-12-11

Trying to say it in easy words ( because I'm coming from Germany): You don't have to look for famous musicians to hear congenious jazz music: influenced by a lot of great musicians (Pat Metheny, Brian Hughes, Yellow Jackets)this is a really fantastic and varied compilation of stormy, slow, jazzy, latin music influenced style. The first thing , I did: I immediately bought the first one of Ray Lyon.
You won't be bored.

"Figures of the True" certainly adds up!.......2001-06-12

Rarely will you find a recording and performance of such a high caliber from an independant artist as this one. Although well known in the south Florida recording circle, Ray Lyon is one of the most versatile musicians around. Ray is an outstanding pianist/keyboardist/composer and producer. Influenced by the sounds of Pat Metheny, Yellowjackets, Coltrane, Weather Report, Ray delivers a sparkling blend of contemporary sound and rhythms that will keep your attention throughout the entire recording. A "diamond in the rough" for sure. Do yourself a favor and add this record to your collection.

Music:

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Music