New Music: (((Powerhouse Sound))), Bill Callahan

(((Powerhouse Sound))) - Old Dictionary (for Bernie Worrell) (Atavistic 2007)

(((Powerhouse Sound))) – Oslo/Chicago: (((Breaks))) / Atavistic

By this point, I’ve written about jazz a good number of times, but every now and again while doing my initial research on an album, I come across a review written by a true jazz critic that makes me hesitate to write anything at all. This is the problem I came across while preparing my critical improv for Ken Vandermark’s latest group (((Powerhouse Sound))), which is actually two collectives of musicians separated by the Atlantic Ocean approaching the same set of compositions. Well Allmusic’s review of the double-disc is amazing; it’s clearly the work of a person who is either a knowledgeable jazz player in his/her own right, or has spent a good chunk of time concentrating on the ins and outs of jazz music. I, on the other hand, rarely write two reviews in a row that are even in the same sonic worlds of each other, so it’s been an inch at a time progression for my critiques on each particular style of music. So while I’m not going to be able to drop such awe-inspiring lines of critique like: “Vandermark finds a natural tension between the constancy of circular rhythm broken by a meta-textual musico-linguistic syntax of individual statements made from the conception of groove that moves out toward something else and finds itself home again in the primary communication at its center,” I’ll do my best to share some knowledge with you.

Ken Vandermark is among the top contemporary jazz musicians who still explore the same spiritual sonic space as the great players of the late 60s/early 70s underground jazz scene. Through his infinitely expressive work with the tenor sax and bass clarinet, he’s one of the few remaining direct links to the groundbreaking work of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Joe McPhee, Ornette Coleman and Fred Anderson. But being exposed to the modern music scene, Vandermark has had the privilege to see the evolution of post-bop, modern creative, avant-garde and free jazz and link the past and present together into one fiery, cerebral brand of his own music. Leading and contributing to such bands as The Vandermark 5, The Flying Luttenbachers, Spaceways Incorporated, Exploding Star Orchestra, Crisis Ensemble and the NRG Ensemble, to name just a few, more than warrants his controversial reception at just 35 of the MacArthur Fellowship aka the “genius grant” in 1999, an award typically only given to “near-legendary” figures of any age in any field who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work" like past music-based winners Cecil Taylor and Anthony Braxton. During the last 18 years, Vandermark has helped to sustain the incredibly heady underground Chicago jazz scene and he looks to continue the tradition with his latest concoction (((Powerhouse Sound))), which bridges the Windy City to Oslo, Norway.

The original line-up of (((Powerhouse Sound))) was actually based in Oslo, not Chicago. In the summer of 2005, Vandermark teamed up with electronic manipulator Lasse Marhaug, drummer Paal Nilssen-Love (of Atomic and a regular contributor to Vandermark’s School Days) and bassist Ingebrigt Håker (of Atomic, School Days and Element), while also bringing along Vandermark 5 bassist Nate McBride (Spaceways Incorporated, Joe Morris Trio/Quartet). There is a definite Orentte Coleman influence within this group, not only in the incorporation of two basses as heard on Coleman’s recent Sound Grammar, but also as we’ll see in a few minutes, a relative homage to In All Languages which is a double album featuring two different groups (an acoustic and electronic) attacking the same compositions. The Norwegian ensemble set out to approach songwriting in the opposite manner of the conventional “from the top down.” Instead, they put a heavy emphasis on the rhythm section, building their ideas for the low end up, which certainly explains the double electric bass line-up. As with most Vandermark 5 albums, he showcases his influences right in the song title and this album is no different. Looking to the dubbed out rhythms of Jamaica, especially the wily compositions of King Tubby, Lee Perry, Coxsonne Dodd and Burning Spear, as well as the collaging techniques of Hank Shocklee of Public Enemy and the ferocious rhythm section of The Stooges, (((Powerhouse Sound))) is a free jazz band built on a thunderous foundation of genres dependent on rhythmic inventiveness like funk, reggae, dub and the original spit-in-your-face ideal of rock ‘n’ roll. This is further symbolized in the album title (((Breaks))), and believe you me, there are some vicious, unruly breakdowns to contend with on this album, especially when looking at the first disc, Oslo.

This first disc with the Norwegian line-up consist of basically three different modes for the band, the heavily rhythmic double-bass breakdowns, the noise disintegration when Marhaug gets the go-ahead to explore his sonic palette, and the culmination of both ideals with Vandermark weaving effortlessly in between with his growling tenor sax. “Shocklee (for Hank Shocklee)” displays this perfectly: the 12-minute song opens slowly with dirty electronic snarls before the rhythm section comes grooving in. One bass lays down your traditional beat while the other circles around menacingly, daring any intruder to attack at will. That intruder just happens to be Vandermark, who comes stabbing in just before the halfway mark, never overshadowing the rhythm section but adding augmenting swabs of melody and harmony. The song comes full circle, first breaking down into the kind of daring, aggressive low-end that made Public Enemy so volatile and progressing to crumble right back into Marhaug’s collaging electronics. “King to Crown (for King Tubby)” flips this structure by book ending the song with the entire group jamming off the booming low end and leaving the electronic improvisations for the creamy center. “Coxsonne (for Coxsonne Dodd),” “Acid Scratch (for Lee Perry)” and “Exit-Salida (for Burning Spear)” all groove on similar patterns, opening with a light bass, drum and sax rhythm that echoes the early days of reggae through a jazz state of mind. Each song also succumbs to noisy outbreaks about three-fourths way though with the latter two highlighting Vandermark’s squealing sax solos. “2-1-75 (for Miles Davis)” (perhaps paying homage to Davis’s two consecutive concerts in Osaka, Japan in February of 1975 released as Agharta and Pangea on Columbia) and “New Dirt (for The Stooges)” both feature scathing tape manipulation strung throughout and the latter adds an inverting effect to one of the basses causing it to bellow and bloat from underneath the rhythm.

The second disc finds Vandermark and McBride returning to their home Chicago scene and teaming up with drummer John Herndon (Tortoise, Isotope 217, Exploding Star Orchestra) and guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise, Isotope 217, Chicago Underground). This ensemble takes on the same songs as the Oslo crew, but with a different sonic approach and sometimes in different arrangements of the same compositions; for example “Acid Scratch pt. 2 / Shocklee / Exit-Salida” which obviously combines three of the songs from the previous disc. The only completely new tune on this disc, “Old Dictionary (for Bernie Worrell),” an ode to the one time keyboardist for Funkadelic and Parliament, opens the second half and showcases the similarities between the two groups. Herndon and McBride lock together seamlessly while Parker at many times takes the place of the scratching electronics and Vandermark jumps back and forth from his harmonic stance to acting in the same manner as Håker did as the second bassist. I am a bit partial to this second ensemble partly because it’s considerably more accessible and partly because the groove quotient is upped considerably, and I’m a sucker for a good groove. It should be noted that we are not dealing with Tortoise 2.0 though, songs like “King to Crown pt. 1 / Acid Scratch pt. 2” are comfortably in the free jazz spectrum with the rhythm section providing the thematic chunky chorus while Vandermark and Parker take turns soloing with minute dexterity and sheer technical prowess. “Coxsonne” truly pays homage to the Studio One producer with it’s calm, echoing opening groove and laid-back riddim, even though the eventual blasting breakout sounds more on the Stooges side of things. And that very same exuberance is what makes the real Stooges influence on “New Dirt / King to Crown pt. 2” so invigorating, Parker’s wily electric guitar punch and Vandermark’s raucous yet inherently smooth outbreaks teamed with Tubby-like grooves.

Oslo/Chicago: (((Breaks))) is one hell of an album. Two opposing discs bent on outdoing the other but with the same exact frame of mind. Two opposing cultures sharing the same love of artistic influence and means of expressing it but with radically different results. Two ensembles both highly experienced and instrumentally proficient looking to pay homage to their shared heroes and create something truly individual, hypnotizing and invigorating in its own right. It is an album built from the ground up, low end to high, rhythm to melody, and influence to individual. It is an album that bridges continents, cultures, styles and feelings, and succeeds wildly.







Bill Callahan - Sycamore (Drag City 2007)

Bill Callahan – Woke on a Whaleheart / Drag City

New Weird America allows a myriad of outside genre influences to seep into the psychedelic folk foundation. Swashes of free jazz, metal, noise, tropicália, electronica and other seemingly alien styles have regularly been incorporated within the very loose boundaries of the genre, and its a musical movement that has come to dominate the independent scene in the last five years. Bill Callahan predated this latest trend by a good fifteen years, building a solid following under his Smog and (smog) aliases by a slew of cassette only releases in the late 80s and early 90s before signing to Drag City around 1992 and continually experimenting with his odd, lo-fi singer/songwriter status. From his early days as a Jandek-influenced free-folk purveyor to his more recent albums that explored more melodic and lush arrangements to his continually evocative narratives, Callahan, like John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, seems to live outside of the New Weird quirk collective simply because they have been plugging along and living in their own insular worlds for so long. It would be a mistake to group them with any trend even if they share similar characteristics... well, except perhaps with each other. But as we have seen before, their influence certainly does not go unnoticed, and with his first official full-length released under his proper name, I hope all the New Weirdos are paying attention to Bill Callahan because his gospel-folk maybe the latest hybrid genre to arise within their stylistic confines.

The first four songs of Woke on a Whaleheart are phenomenal. Easing his way into this new musical approach, “From the Rivers to the Ocean” slowly laps and layers forward; first the melancholy piano, then the reverberant snare and finally Callahan’s croaking baritone opens the song into an almost Cash-like ballad. Leaves of electric guitar and lap steel gently float by and about halfway through the song climaxes with these ghostly gospel echoes care of Olivet Baptist Church’s Deani Pugh-Flemming and a sashaying country-folk violin provided by Elizabeth Warren. It’s six-and-a-half minutes of riverside balladry and it just soothes the soul. “Footprints” is a bit more aggressive with its foot-stomping beat and playful spirit. Both Pugh-Flemming and a raw electric guitar have increased roles, the former providing colorful embellishments to Callahan’s more charismatic lines and the latter adding a crunchy layer to the otherwise pie-like material. The first single from the album which was previewed on the previously released EP of the same name, “Diamond Dancer” features a great vocal hook from Callahan which acts as a reassuring spirit to the otherwise tension-filled track. Then we get to my favorite, “Sycamore,” five-and-a-half minutes of spine tingling, ping-ponging guitars and Callahan’s soothing, sap-filled baritone. He even gets a bit sassy with the much-needed help of Pugh-Flemming for a great bridge of lyrical sincerity. Everything sounds so unforced and natural, and the free spirit is downright infectious.

Not that the second half is a stark contrast from the first four songs, but I do believe it’s a step down from the first half of the album. The highlight is definitely “Day,” which motors around on an M. Ward like piano roll while Callahan’s patiently paced lyrics awkwardly counteract the rollicking music. And that opposition of what you expect from Callahan and the actual music presented here really is the majority of the appeal in this album. Though it has definitely been a slow progression, comparing Callahan’s early recordings to Woke on a Whaleheart is near impossible. His earliest 4-track recordings creaked of alienation and insecurity, while on this album he sounds confident, assured and pretty damn playful. And as I said before, the spirit is fucking infectious. I mean hell, I spent the majority of last week repeatedly singing “Like Sycamoreeeeeeeeees.” It seeps into your brain and the hook just sits on repeat, which would be annoying if it wasn’t so damn sincere. These wonderful vocal hooks are scattered throughout Woke on a Whalehorse, and different one seems to take the spotlight with each concurrent listen. For a man who built his foundation on lyrical prowess and not really catchy but mesmerizing with a voyeuristic-like quality, that’s worth mentioning. It’s a wonderful thing to listen to Callahan’s progression from Jandek comparisons to Nilsson parallels, and it’s been a maturing process captured on tape. It is a nearly 20-year tale of self-discovery with a wonderful accompanying discography.