Dave, Tim, Kent, Fred and Ken: common and colloquial first names that could easily be those of your drinking buddies down at the corner pub. The Vandermark 5 have been around long enough, have logged enough tour miles, have put out enough albums to engender a certain degree of familiarity. Plunk ducats down on one of their records and the buyer can be reasonably sure of what they’re getting in return. The fun and value comes in what Vandermark does with the familiar components, a variability and atypicality reflected in the band’s beyond-the-ordinary surnames.
This latest set has much in common with past ones. Bob Weston is once again at the board as engineer. The nine Vandermark compositions advertise their usual honorees, among them: Andreas Gursky, Max Roach and Paul Rutherford. Most of the pieces work from collage style schemas that shoehorn elements and instruments into swiftly-shifting studies in opposition and reconciliation. Tautly wound tension and release and hairpin shifts in mood and tempo are present in abundance. There’s also plenty of the group’s signature action jazz energy. They hit fast and hit hard with only a few chamber jazz detours like those contained in “Further From the Truth”. Even when the disparate interlocking elements of the charts collide rather than complement, as on the kitchen-sink slugfest “Acrylic”, the shared enthusiasm behind their execution keeps the music on even keel.
Vandermark breaks with usual band decorum by claiming first solo order on the Ligeti-dedicated opener “Friction”, his burry bass clarinet huffing and puffing over a dense weave of cymbals and strings. As in the recent past, his division of reeds with Rempis leaves for no overlap or mistaken identity. Rempis doles out acrobatic barrages of notes in blistering runs with an emblematic improv facility. Vandermark works from a more pragmatic perspective, particularly on baritone where he revels in the brawn and bluster of the big horn and plays from the gut. Together, the two achieve some terrific tonal juxtaposition, the closing tenor/bari blowout “Desireless” being but one memorable example.
Lonberg-Holm’s cello serves as the band’s blank Scrabble title, running through a list of possibles that encompasses keening violin to harshly amplified guitar. His solo on “Speedplay” touches down in full-tilt Hendrix territory in its artful yet aggressive application of fulminating feedback. Daisy sounds confident and alert behind his kit, bouncing from tight pocket-playing to brushed textures to floating pulse without faltering. Kessler comes out to tangle with Lonberg-Holm repeatedly as during the string duels that spice up “Signposts” and “Compass Shatters Magnet”, but otherwise largely consigns to his customary role as responsive anchor. The usual detractors probably won’t be won over by this latest dissertation, but those enamored of the V5’s customary game plan will find the game equally well played here.
~ Derek Taylor
Posted by derek on February 7, 2008 4:29 PMI saw this at the record store last night but have not heard it. I think the dedications to photographers might be a little more than customary, Ken seems to have been doing a lot of abstract photography in the last few years that is actually pretty good.
The Territory Band with Fred Anderson had some of his photos tiled on the cover and you can see some at his site.
Photographers, sculptors, musicians, authors, architects, etc. The general pre-requisite for a Vandermark dedication seems to be “artist” by whom he was inspired/influenced.
I keep hoping he might consider contracting out his composing for other people’s dedications. Here are a handful whom I’d solicit his services to honor:
Billy Gibbons
Chester Himes
Geoff Darrow
Robert Aldrich
Lenny Bruce
Bongo Joe Coleman
Anyone know if there's a list anywhere on the web of every Vandermark composition and associative dedication? Seems like a project Seth Tisue would be ideal to field.
Posted by: narew ramsh at February 8, 2008 8:42 AMI've been enjoying this quite a bit, but wish I had been quick enough on the draw to get on of the limited edition 2CD sets.
Posted by: Tim at February 8, 2008 12:12 PMFWIW, almost all of the Vandermarks I've liked have been either trios or quartets. In duets, I generally don't find his playing quite interesting enough to hold my attention (one exception: the duets with Karayorgis), and when it comes to larger groups, I'm not that enthralled with his writing. Is it just me, or do other people feel the same way? (Most of the comments I recall seeing on-line have been from people who either love or hate everything Vandermark does, across the board.)
Posted by: Bill_R at February 8, 2008 8:00 PMI've stopped picking up V5 albums because I have a bunch already, and they really do kind of sound the same. I'm still interested in some of his other projects though, particularly with the Scandinavians. I like his latest album with Paal Nilssen-Love, Seven. But somehow, Powerhouse Sound, which is a larger group including PNL, leaves me cold. I'm not sure why.
Posted by: Davey O at February 8, 2008 9:46 PMVandermark 5 is the name of the group, not an instruction to posters to post the same comment five times :-))))
Posted by: Dan Warburton at February 9, 2008 9:12 AMI don't really like the look of (((Powerhouse Sound))) and it might be because of the stupid parentheses. Paal is often great; just caught him with Atomic in Austin recently. The pianist, Havard Wiik, is amazing.
I'm getting a little worn out on the V5, though Vandermark himself can be quite good.
Posted by: clifford at February 9, 2008 11:09 AMMost of the comments I recall seeing on-line have been from people who either love or hate everything Vandermark does, across the board.
I hear you on the pervasiveness of these dueling perspectives, Bill, but to me, they’re puzzling tacks to take. I mean it’s not like he’s working out of the same bag every time out. The V5 is the closest thing he has to a rep band & that seems in large part to be its point. Same building blocks tweaked in different directions. Adding Fred L-H to the recipe was an inspired move, IMO, though it’s a shame it came after the departure of Bishop. Haven't heard the second disc NY Suite, but reports I've read have been positive.
Agree with Cliff on Atomic, great band live & only slightly less memorable on record. They need to put out another box set on the magnitude of The Bikini Tapes & soon.
Posted by: derek at February 11, 2008 8:08 AMAnyone know if there's a list anywhere on the web of every Vandermark composition and associative dedication?
There will be soon - there's a yet-unrealized part of Ken's site known as the 'Composition Directory' that will have details for all KV tunes, as well as their respective dedications. It's going to take a bit of work, but we'll get there eventually..
Posted by: Cale at February 11, 2008 3:36 PMThanks for the word, Cale, sounds like a sizeable project.
Posted by: derek at February 12, 2008 5:26 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................