Ken Vandermark

Vandermark 5 was the new group formed by Ken Vandermark. They play visceral free-jazz at neurotic speed. Jeb Bishop on trombone, Kent Kessler on bass, Tim Mulvenna on drums and Mars Williams on reeds provide fantastic backing to Single Piece Flow (Atavistic, 1997), an album that runs the gamut from bebop to jazz-rock to free-jazz (and offers an unlikely fusion of these styles in Careen). Fence and The Mark Inside were its highlights. Target Dr Flag (october 1997 - Atavistic, 1998) is an impressive tornado that dramatically upped the ante (Attempted Not Known). Simpatico (december 1998 - Atavistic, 1999) is even more cohesive. Fact And Fiction and Vent have the sound and the fury of Flying Luttenbachers.

The DKV Trio (percussionist Hamid Drake, Kessler and Vandermark) represented Vandermakr's free-jazz alter ego: Baraka (february 1997) contained the 35-minute Baraka.

The Steelwood Trio (basically, the DKV Trio with drummer Curt Newton replacing Drake) recorded International Front (september 1994), with Tag, Another Orbit and No Sleeves No Service.

Vandermark frequently collaborated with the AALY Trio (tenor saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Kjell Nordeson, drummer Peter Janson): Hidden in the Stomach (december 1996), Stumble (january 1998), that contains Vandermark's Why I Don't Go Back , Live at the Glenn Miller Cafe (march 1999), I Wonder If I Was Screaming (march 2000).

The quintet also shines on the quintet's fourth album, Burn The Incline (december 1999 - Atavistic, 2000), although the leader steals the show with a performance that is worthy of Albert Ayler and Archie Shepp. The music runs the gamut from ferocious funk (Distance, Roulette, Ground) to dreamlike jams (Late Night Wait Around, The Trouble Is).

Sound In Action Trio is a trio formed with veteran Robert Barry and Tim Mulvenna on percussions. Design In Time (july 1999), heavy on covers, is more than anything else a display of the saxophonist's bravura, but also a pioneering work in employing two drummers. Gate (july 2003) continued the experiment, with another repertory of (six) covers and (five) originals.

Straight Lines (september 1998 - Atavistic, 2000) is a tribute to Joe Harriott.

School Days is a quartet with Bishop devoted to simple, sprightly music that debuted on Crossing Division (march 2000) and live In Our Times (november 2001).

Territory Band was yet another project, devoted to chamber jazz and big-band jazz for spectacular line-ups (Jim Baker on piano, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Kent Kessler on bass, Axel Doerner on trumpet, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Dave Rempis on saxophones, Paul Lytton and Tim Mulvenna on percussions). Transatlantic Bridge (february 2000) contained four lengthy jams dedicated to abstract painters: the 14-minute Collage, the 21-minute RM, the 17-minute Mobile, the 18-minute Stabile. Atlas (february 2001) repeated the same formula with the 13-minute Add and Subtract, the 16-minute Neiger, the 12-minute Catalog, the 18-minute Now for a line-up of Baker, Bishop, Doerner, Kessler, Lonberg-Holm, Lytton, Mulverna, Rempis, and newcomers Kevin Drumm on electronics, Per-Ake Holmlander on tuba, Fredrik Ljungkvist on reeds. Neiger and Now are feasts of glitchy electroacoustic improvisation. Map Theory (september 2002) was at the same time more accessible and more unpredictable, although again structured as four lengthy pieces (the 12-minute Towards Abstraction for Gil Evans, the 16-minute A Certain Light for Peter Kowald, the 16-minute Framework for Rob Vandermark, the 19-minute Image As Text for Richard Hull) for chamber orchestra (Baker, Bishop, Doerner, Kessler, Lonberg-Holm, Ljungkvist, Rempis, Lytton, Drumm, and newcomers Per-�ke Holmlander on tuba and Paal Nilssen-Love on percussion). Drumm's role was becoming more relevant. The Territory Band 4 (Vandermark, Doerner, Bishop, Ljungkvist, Rempis, Lonberg-Holm, drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and Lasse Marhaug at the laptop) performed live at Chicago's "Cultural Center" in september 2004. Its Company Switch (september 2004) was another double-CD album but dispensed with Drumm's electronics (Killing Floor, Local Works, Franja). The Territory Band 5's triple-CD A New Horse for the White House (october 2005) featured Fredrik Ljungkvist, Dave Rempis, Axel Doerner, Johannes Bauer, Per-Ake Holmlander, Jim Baker, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Lasse Marhaug, Kent Kessler, Paul Lytton, Paal Nilssen-Love, and offered four lengthy postmodernist games: Fall With A Vengence, Untitled Fiction, Corrosion, Cards. (The third CD includes live versions of the same pieces).

Real Time (april 1996 - Eighth Day Music, 1996), by a piano quartet called Steam, is a homage to be bop.

Witches & Devils (Ken Vandermark and Mars Williams on reeds, Jim Baker on keyboards, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Kent Kessler on bass and Steve Hunt on drums) was documented live on At The Empty Bottle (august 1997), that contains devastating versions of three Albert Ayler compositions. Expansion Slang (april 1998 - Boxholder, 1998), credited to Tripleplay, is a homage to Don Cherry (includes the 20-minute In Sequence).

Spaceways Incorporated is a trio with bassist Nate McBride and percussionist Hamid Drake. Thirteen Cosmic Standards (january 2000 - Atavistic, 2000) is a set of compositions by Sun Ra and George Clinton, which, in a sense, confesses the roots of Vandermark's schizophrenic music. Version Soul (august 2001) is a set of nine originals dedicated to soul and funk masters. Radiale (september 2003) was a collaboration with the Italian group Zu.

The double-disc English Suites (november 1997 - Wobbly Rail, 2000) is a collaboration with Paul Lytton.

The Vandermark 5's Acoustic Machine (january 2001 - Atavistic, 2001) is another solid, while conventional, work-out, whose jams are dedicated (as usual) to great musicians of the past. Stranger Blues, Auto Topography, Coast To Coast are smooth and engaging, but hardly revolutionary. License Complete is Jeb Bishop's show, and possibly the finest composition here. Fall to Grace, Close Enough, Wind Out are lengthy tests of Vandermark's mastery of jazz counterpoint.

Il sassofonista e clarinettista Ken Vandermark inizio' la propria carriera negli anni del college a Montreal e successivamente a Boston, dove guido' il trio Lombard Street. Dopo un nuovo trasferimento, questa volta a Chicago nel 1989, si accosto' sia al rock (Denison-Kimball Three) che al jazz (Fred Anderson, Peter Brotzmann, Paul Lovens, Paul Lytton, Joe McPhee, Joe Morris, ecc). Il Vandermark Quartet (Ken Vandermark, Daniel Scanlan, Kent Kessler, Michael Zerang) fu la sua prima espressione compiuta. Big Head Eddie (Platypus, 1993), Solid Action (Platypus, 1994), e Vandermark Quartet (Platypus, 1995) sono piu' progressive-rock che jazz contemporaneo: quest'ambiguita' rimarra' a lungo. Vandermark 5 e' il nuovo gruppo da lui formato. Suona free-jazz viscerale a velocita' nevrotica. Kent Kessler al basso, Tim Mulvenna alla batteria e Mars Williams agli strumenti ad ancia garantiscono eccellente supporto a Single Piece Flow (august 1996 - Atavistic, 1997), un album che percorre l'intera scala musicale passando dal bebop al jazz-rock e al free-jazz (e offre una fusione inverosimile di questi stili in Careen). Target Dr Flag (Atavistic, 1998) e' un tornado impressionante. Simpatico (Atavistic, 1999) e' ancor piu' coesivo. Fact And Fiction e Vent hanno suono e furia dei Flying Luttenbachers.

La band brilla pure sul quarto album, Burn The Incline (Atavistic, 2000), nonostante il leader rubi la scena con una performance degna di Albert Ayler e Archie Shepp. La musica percorre la scala dal funk feroce (Distance, Roulette, Ground) alle jam sognanti (Late Night Wait Around, The Trouble Is).

Sound In Action Trio e' un trio formato dal veterano Robert Barry e Tim Mulvenna alle percussioni. Design In Time (Delmark, 1999) e' soprattutto l'esemplificazione della bravura del sassofonista, ma anche l'album che sancisce l'entrata di Vandermark tra i grandi. Straight Lines (Atavistic, 2000) e' un omaggio al Joe Harriott Project.

Territory Band 1 e' un altro progetto. Transatlantic Bridge (Okka Disk, 2001) contiene quattro lunghe jam dedicate a pittori astrattisti. Real Time (Eighth Day Music, 1996), ad opera di un quartetto pianistico di nome Steam, e' un omaggio al be bop. At The Empty Bottle (Knitting Factory, 1997) contiene versioni devastanti di tre composizioni di Albert Ayler. Expansion Slang (Boxholder, 1998), accreditato a Tripleplay, e' un omaggio a Don Cherry (con i venti minuti di In Sequence). Spaceways Incorporated e' un trio con il bassista Nate McBride e il percussionista Hamid Drake. Il loro Thirteen Cosmic Standards (Atavistic, 2000) e' un set di composizioni di Sun Ra e George Clinton, che, in parte, confessa le radici della schizofrenica musica di Vandermark. Acoustic Machine (Atavistic, 2001), di Vandermark 5,e' un altro lavoro solido, benche' convenzionale, le cui jam sono dedicate (come di consueto) ai grandi musicisti del passato. Stranger Blues, Auto Topography, Coast To Coast sono scorevoli e seducenti ma non rivoluzionarie. License Complete e' lo show di Jeb Bishop, forse la piu' bella composizione su quest'album. Il DKV Trio (Hamid Drake, Kent Kessler and Vandermark 5) pubblico' il doppio live Trigonometry (march 2001 - Okkadisk, 2002). Infection And Decline (Troubleman Unlimited, 2002) dei Flying Luttenbachers presenta il nuovo trio (il batterista Weasel Walter e i bassisti Jonathan Hischke and Alex Perkolup) con cinque suite prog-rock e una lunga cover dei Magma.

No Such Thing (april 1999 - Boxholder, 2001) is a collaboration with Pandelis Karayorgis and Nate McBride.

The DKV Trio (Hamid Drake, Kent Kessler and Vandermark) released the live albums Live in Wels & Chicago (november 1998) and Trigonometry (Okkadisk, 2002), mostly dedicated to Don Cherry.

Double or Nothing (september 1999 - OkkaDisk, 2002) collects 1999 recordings of the AALY Trio (Mats Gustafsson, Kjell Nordeson, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten) and the DKV Trio (Drake, Kessler, Vandermark).

Dual Pleasure (july 2002) is a collaboration with percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love.

The double-disc Two Days in December (december 2001 - Wobbly Rail, 2002) collects duets with Raymond Strid, David Stackenas, Kjell Nordeson.

The Vandermark 5's Airports for Light (august 2002 - Atavistic, 2003) collects tributes to his favorite jazz players, but its follow-up, Elements of Style (july 2003 - Atavistic, 2004), is a more serious effort, capable of consolidating the sonic space according to simple grooves.

Vandermark's first solo album, Furniture Music (august 2002 - Okka, 2003), is dedicated to Erik Satie, and contains mainly music composed in his living room.

Other collaborations include: the Duets (january 2003 - Future Reference, 2003) with Brian Dibblee the Brooklyn Cantos (august 2002 - Squealer, 2004) with the Gold Sparkle Trio, the second volume of Dual Pleasure 2 (september 2003 - Smalltown Supersound, 2004) with Paal Nilssen-Love, Two Lightboxes (july 2000 - Locust, 2004) with the Lightbox Orchestra, Nuclear Assembly Hall (august 2003 - Okka, 2004) with Atomic. Most of these collaborations don't seem to be as carefully crafted as the works of his various bands.

The Vandermark 5's Alchemia (Not Two, 2005) is a 12-cd box-set that documents live performances. The double-cd The Color Of Memory (july 2004 - Atavistic, 2005) is a passionate distillation of the history of modern jazz. Jams such as Camera ratchet up specimen of cool jazz, bebop, free jazz and jazz-rock. Jeb Bishop was then replaced by cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm.

Free Fall is a trio inspired by the Jimmy Giuffre 3 of the early 1960s that released Amsterdam Funk (november 2004).

FME is another trio (with bassist Nate McBride and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love) that released Underground (december 2003) Cuts (october 2004).

The Vandermark 5's A Discontinuous Line (december 2005), with the 14-minute Some Not All, replaced Bishop with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, who lent the sound a "rock" quality. The new line-up marked a dramatic departure from the three-part harmonies of old Vandermark 5's material.

Bridge 61 was a group with Jason Stein, bassist Nate McBride and drummer Tim Daisy that debuted on Journal (july 2005).

Ken Vandermark/Pandelis Karayorgis (january 2006) was a collaboration with pianist Pandelis Karayorgis. Powerhouse Sound is the name of a project that originally started in Oslo in august 2005 and then was "replicated" in Chicago in november 2006. The double-CD Oslo/Chicago (november 2006) collects both performances. The material largely overlaps, thus offering a chance to compare the two groups, in a fashion similar to what Ornette Coleman did on In All Languages. The 2005 European session features electronic musician Lasse Marhaug, drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and two bassists, Ingebrigt Haker and Nate McBride. The highlight is the 12-minute Shocklee. The 2006 American session features McBride, guitarist Jeff Parker and drummer John Herndon, and works as a "remix" of sort of the previous one, except for the brand new Old Dictionary. The electronics makes the difference: both albums are great studies in dynamics, but the first one is also a subtle study in textures. The double-bass attack is also noteworthy, making the first album sound like it was constructed from the rhythm up. The American quartet sounds like a more traditional jazz jam, conceived as a series of variations on some themes.

Territory Band's Collide (august 2006), a five-monument suite for orchestra recorded live, is a collaboration between tenorist Fred Anderson and a 12-piece version of Vandermark's ensemble consisting of Dave Rempis and Fredrik Ljungkvist on saxophones, Axel Doerner on trumpet, Lasse Marhaug on electronics, Jim Baker on piano, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, David Stackenas on guitars, Per-Ake Holmlander on tuba, Kent Kessler on bass, Paul Lytton and Paal Nilssen-Love on percussion.

By the time the Vandermark 5's Beat Reader (2008) came out, Vandermark had stopped playing the tenor saxophone (leaving it to Dave Rempis) and concentrated on the baritone saxophone and clarinets. Thanks to the eccentric cello sounds and the propulsive rhythm section, the music is traversed by undercurrents of funk, rock and rhythm'n'blues.

No Such Thing (Boxholder, 2001) e' una collaborazione con Pandelis Karayorgis e Nate McBride. The DKV Trio (Hamid Drake, Kent Kessler and Vandermark) pubblico' i live Live in Wels & Chicago (novembre 1998) e Trigonometry (Okkadisk, 2002), perlopiu' dedicati a Don Cherry. Double or Nothing (OkkaDisk, 2002) e' composto da 1999 registrazioni di AALY Trio (Mats Gustafsson, Kjell Nordeson, Ingebrigt Haker- Flaten) e DKV Trio (Drake, Kessler, Vandermark). Dual Pleasure (Smalltown Supersound, 2002) e' una collaborazione con il percussionista Paal Nilssen-Love. Il doppio Two Days in December (Wobbly Rail, 2002) e' composto da duetti con Raymond Strid, David Stackenas, Kjell Nordeson. The Vandermark 5's Airports for Light (Atavistic, 2003) contiene omaggi ai suoi jazzisti preferiti, laddove il successivo Elements of Style (Atavistic, 2004), e' uno sforzo piu' serio, capace di consolidare il sonic space con semplici groove. Il primo album solo di Vandermark, Furniture Music (agosto 2002 - Okka, 2003), e' dedicato ad Erik Satie, e contiene perlopiu' musica composta in salotto. Altre collaborazioni: the Duets (Future Reference, 2003) con Brian Dibblee, the Brooklyn Cantos (Squealer, 2004) con Gold Sparkle Trio, il secondo volume di Dual Pleasure 2 (Smalltown Supersound, 2004) con Paal Nilssen-Love, Two Lightboxes (Locust, 2004) con Lightbox Orchestra, Nuclear Assembly Hall (Okka, 2004) con Atomic. Queste collaborazioni sono in genere meno curate delle opere delle altre sue band. Vandermark 5's Alchemia (march 2004 - Not Two, 2005) e' una raccolta live di 12- cd. Il doppio cd The Color Of Memory (Atavistic, 2005) e' un distillato appassionato di storia del jazz moderno. Jams quali Camera mettono insieme cool jazz, bebop, free jazz e jazz-rock. Jeb Bishop fu poi sostituito dal cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm. Il trio Free Fall, ispiratosi al Jimmy Giuffre 3 dei primi anni sessanta, fece Amsterdam Funk (2005). FME e' un altro trio (col bassista Nate McBride e il batterista Paal Nilssen-Love), che pubblico' Underground (dicembre 2003) e Cuts (ottobre 2004). Vandermark 5 con A Discontinuous Line (december 2005), contenente i 14 minuti di Some Not All, sostitui' Bishop col cellist Fred Lonberg- Holm. La nuova line-up rappresento' un drastico cambiamento dalle vecchie harmonies tripartite. Bridge 61 fu un gruppo con Jason Stein, il bassista Nate McBride e il batterista Tim Daisy, che debutto' con Journal (luglio 2005). Ken Vandermark/Pandelis Karayorgis (january 2006) fu una collaborazione con il pianista Pandelis Karayorgis. Powerhouse Sound e' un progetto di Oslo nell'agosto 2005, poi "replicato" a Chicago nel novembre 2006. Il doppio CD Oslo/Chicago (novembre 2006) contiene le due performance. Il materiale, ancorche' debordante, consente il paragone fra i due gruppi, come Ornette Coleman in In All Languages. 2005 European session coopta il musicista elettronico Lasse Marhaug, il batterista Paal Nilssen-Love e due bassisti, Ingebrigt Haker and Nate McBride. I 12 minuti di Shocklee ne sono il piatto forte. 2006 American session coopta McBride, il chitarrista Jeff Parker e il batterista John Herndon, e funge da "remix" del precedente, eccezion fatta per la nuova Old Dictionary. L'elettronica fa la differenza: i due album studiano la dinamica, il primo pure le trame, e con dovizia. Degno di nota e' pure l'attacco double-bass, come se il primo album fosse costruito a partire dal ritmo. The American quartet ha l'aria di essere una tradizionale jam jazz, concepito come una serie di variazioni su alcuni temi.