An admission: this Paul Dunmall week is my own true introduction to the British saxophonist’s work. How did I get this far without him? Speculation might turn up some illuminating insights re: access to good information about free jazz and improvised music, or divisions between said genres’ American vs. European counterparts. But the simplest, swiftest, and perhaps most relevant answer may be that the Michigan record stores where I’ve scored the bulk of my collection tend to be dominated by the excellent and abundant output of nearby Midwestern improvisers. It’s unhappily rare to come across releases on labels like FMR, host of over 70 Dunmall releases, or Slam, host of Subjects and Structures. So when Paul (Acquaro, that is) remarked in a recent e-mail that Dunmall’s "a prolific musician who deserves more coverage," his words rang true to my experience. As for my belated introduction—"immersion" might be a better word—there’s not one album up for coverage this week that I didn’t fully enjoy, from the fire of Underground Underground to the quieter I Look At You, from Maha Samadhi’s bold brassy swing to the strange guitar/wind synth duet of Electrosonics. Anyone we decide to devote a week to certainly deserves the attention, and Dunmall’s no different.
Subjects and Structures finds him as a member of Six-In-One, specially assembled by artists Walt Shaw and Andrew Coates to send off their August 2015 Artsmith gallery exhibition. The curated sextet puts together Dunmall on tenor sax with Bruce Coates on sopranino, soprano, and alto saxes, Corey Mwamba on vibraphone and recorder, Shaw himself on percussion and electronics, Seth Bennett on bass, and Mark Sanders on drums. The set consists of "Subjects" and "Structures," a half-hour each, plus the brief "Nothing Is Paltry," dedicated to the Spanish artist Antoni Tàpies.
The eponymous hour-long dyad is a marathon act of group improvisation, ranging from high-energy bombast to restrained atmospherics. Over its course, everyone gets a fair chance to step to the fore. The group starts from the ground up with a wash of malleted cymbals, resonant vibes, whispery arco bass, and, of course, carefully swelling saxophones. On a broad scale, hearing the sextet masterfully escalate and de-escalate tension and dynamics, expand and contract from solo to full sextet and back down is a fascinating experience. On a closer level, tracking the interplay between individual musicians is equally worthwhile. The interplay between the Dunmall and Coates affords special attention, I suppose, especially as a way of highlighting Dunmall’s range of skills. (It helps that while he can often be found playing all manner of instruments, including not only the aforementioned wind synth but also bagpipes—see Paradise Walk—he sticks to tenor here, leaving his contributions easy to identify.) The two saxophonists prove exceptionally attentive and in tune to each other’s ideas, in some places shadowing one another in dazzling counterpoint, in others seeking sharper contrast. Dunmall maintains wonderful flexibility throughout, here stabbing wide-interval punctuation marks, there blowing fluidly. Like Ken Vandermark, he’s as adept at harnessing his instrument’s noisier potentialities as he is at exploiting its melodic tendencies. A true sign of veteran confidence, he’s as ready to take the spotlight as he is to let someone else.
There’s a lot more you could say about Subjects and Structures—and I’d go on, but I’ve got more Paul Dunmall to listen to.
Eric McDowell http://www.freejazzblog.org/2017/02/six-in-one-subjects-and-structures-slam.html
It was made on the spot at the close of an exhibition of constructed sculptures by percussionist/electronics man Walt Shaw and Coates’s brother Andrew. It probably needs the presence of the artwork to vibrate in the way it deserves, but Dunmall is magisterial, Coates consistently intriguing and Mwamba brightly intelligent in his choices. The encore’s dedicated to my hero Antoni Tàpies under the title Nothing is Paltry – and that’s what you’d have to say about this music: playful, muscular, significant. Brian Morton Jazz Journal. August 2016.
Saxophonist Bruce Coates is Senior Lecturer in Music at Newman University, Birmingham. He has long been profoundly involved with free improvisation, free jazz and experimental music and has worked with many other musicians who are equally committed to the genre. Paul Dunmall is perhaps one of the better known on the British scene. There are just three tracks, not quite 70 minutes in total. The first, Subjects, reveals total empathy between all six players, finding more than adequate spaces for their solos, yet equally stimulated in all the ‘connective tissues’ of their combined, communal passages. Structures is again a long piece. An unusual rhythm accompanies the two saxes which engage in a sort of duet which is really like two separate solos being played one against the other. There is no competition though; this is just the ethos of true improvisation. The whole album is shared in such a way, the synergy being magnificent. Such inventiveness, so fertile, intricate and lush, rejoices in the unrestricted ambience of the Free aesthetic. Reviewed by Ken Cheetham http://www.jazzviews.net/six-in-one---subjects-and-structures.html
SIX-IN-ONE [PAUL DUNMALL/BRUCE COATES/MARK SANDERS/ et al] - Subjects and Structures (Slam 2102; UK) Featuring Paul Dunmall on tenor sax, Bruce Coates on sopranino, soprano & alto saxes, Corey Mwamba on vibes, Seth Bennett on bass and Mark Sanders & Walt Shaw on drums & percussion. Recorded live in the Artsmith Gallery in Derby, UK in August of 2015. The only members of this sextet that I am previous familiar are saxists Paul Dunmall and Bruce Coates, who have recorded several times before and UK drum wiz Mark Sanders who is ubiquitous, working with Evan Parker, Jah Wobble and many others. This is a long disc (71+ minutes) and two of the pieces take their time to unfold slowly and assuredly. Superbly recorded and balanced with a spirited interweaving of swirling saxes and vibes. Two of the members of the gallery, Shaw & Coates, have their collage-like artwork displayed on the front and insides of the CD cover. UK free/jazz or insect music? Perhaps some of both schools/styles. Closer to the spirited side of free/jazz with its organic unfolding building through blustery sections to more subdued areas. Saxist Bruce Coates is especially strong here, especially on soprano. Mr. Coates has only appeared on a four discs that I’ve reviewed in the past so it is great to hear him, Dunmall, Sanders land the rest of the sextet stretch out over a long period of time. Consistently engaging! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
Chi apprezza l’avanguardia inglese e questo tipo di proposte ecco un’ottima incisione a nome di un sestetto, Six in One, formato da Paul Dunmall al sax tenore, Bruce Coates al sax soprano, Corey Mwambaal vibrafono, Walt Shaw alle percussioni, Seth Bennett al contrabbasso e Mark Sanders alla batteria. Sono tre brani, il primo, Subjects, dura quasi trentatrè minuti ed i musicisti hanno spazio per i loro assoli. I sei suonano ispirati, in sintonia con quelle che sono le direttive del free, assoli travolgenti, certo, ma anche passaggi collettivi che li trovano totalmente in empatia. Anche il secondo brano, Structures, è sulla stessa durata, trentadue minuti, qui possiamo ascoltare all’inizio un bell’assolo di Mwamba al vibrafono, poi l’atmosfera si fa più rarefatta ed arrivano i due sassofonisti a dialogare cercando di estrarre tutto il possibile dai loro strumenti, accompagnati da una ritmica insolita per come elabora il concetto di ritmo. Chi apprezza il free troverà qui momenti di grande intensità in cui scorre tutto più meditato, ma i musicisti sanno creare l’energia richiesta per questo tipo di musica sotto la superficie. I due sassofonisti si trovano ad improvvisare per lunghi tratti insieme, due assoli in parallelo che fanno rivivere lo spirito dell’improvvisazione totale senza apparire ancorati in un’estetica da anni sessanta. Nelle loro mani il free appare ricco di linfa vitale, capace di sviluppare quel messaggio di libertà emerso decenni orsono. Verso la fine del brano emerge il vibrafono con suoni quasi da vetri frantumati e la temperatura dell’esecuzione si riscalda, forse spinti dal pubblico, in quanto il disco riproduce un’esecuzione live alla Artsmith Gallery a Derby. Più breve Nothing is Paltry – after Antoni Tàpies, soltanto sette minuti, un brano dalle atmosfere delicate, ricco di sfumature, di momenti di riflessione, di ascolti reciproci in punta di piedi, che si conclude con l’applauso del pubblico.
Those who appreciate the British avant-garde, and this type of proposals here is an excellent sharpness on behalf of a sextet, Six in One, formed by Paul Dunmall on tenor sax, soprano sax Bruce Coates, Corey Mwamba vibraphone, Walt Shaw on percussion,
Seth Bennett on bass and Mark Sanders on drums. There are three tracks, the first, Subjects, lasts almost thirty minutes and musicians have space for their solos. The six sound inspired, in tune with those that are free of the directives, solos overwhelming, certainly, but also collective steps that find them totally empathize. The second song, Structures, is on the same time, thirty minutes, here we can hear at the beginning of a nice solo Mwamba on vibes, then the atmosphere becomes thinner and arrive two saxophonists to dialogue trying to extract all the possible from their instruments, accompanied by an unusual rhythm for how processes the concept of rhythm. Those who appreciate the free gallery offers moments of great intensity in which everything flows more thoughtful, but the musicians know how to create the energy required for this type of music under the surface. The two saxophonists are improvising for long stretches along two parallel solos that bring to life the spirit of total improvisation without appearing anchored in aesthetics from the sixties. In their hands the free appears rich sap, able to develop that message of freedom emerged decades ago. Towards the end of the piece emerges with the vibraphone sounds almost shattered glass and executing temperature heats up, perhaps driven by the public, because the disc reproduces a live performance at Artsmith Gallery in Derby. Shortest Nothing is paltry - after Antoni Tàpies, only seven minutes, a song from the delicate atmosphere, rich in nuances, with moments of reflection, mutual listening on tiptoe, which ends with the applause of the audience.
Vittorio lo Conte http://www.musiczoom.it/?p=25865#.VzxmtZErK1u18/05/2016
