SLAMCD 406
Title – "The BIG sax CD."
Artist: Compilation
Carlo Actis Dato
Track 1 Anatra 2:56
Track 2 Tasso 5:11
Track 3 Fenice 1:25
Track 4 Due Bisonti 1:23
Track 5 Talpa 2:30
All five solo tracks composed in improvisation by Carlo and recorded by him at his home base in Mazzè, Italy, 1 September 2008.
Charles Evans
Track 6 What 2:00
with Peter Evans trumpet, Moppa Elliott bass and Jan Roth drums.
Track 7 On Tone Yet Part I (Mover's Mood for Annie) 4:40
with Neil Shah, piano
Track 8 On Tone Yet Part II 3:38
Track 9 Micropterus Salmoides 2:35
All 4 tracks composed by Charles. Track 6 was recorded in Astoria, New York USA, 6 May 2005 by Brian "Hoppel" Woestehoff. Track 7 in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 2 July 2007 by Neil Shah. Tracks 8 and 9 also in Astoria, New York, USA, by Charles Evans on 3 June 2007 and 4 August 2008 respectively. Track 6 is from his CD "No Relation" Greatbend Records GBCD02. Track 8 is from his CD "King of all Instruments" Hot Cup Records HotCup 084.
George Haslam
Track 10 Viejo Lobo 3:41 Solo
Track 11 El Puntanito 11:09 with Roi Maciaz piano
Track 12 Thinking Allowed 4:19 with Stefano Pastor violin.
Track 10 was composed by George and recorded at Estudio Puntano, San Luis, Argentina, 25 October 2008 by Roi Maciaz. Track 11 comes from the same session, composed by Haslam and Maciaz. Track 12 composed by Haslam and Pastor, recorded by Stefano at Villa Parodi, Genoa, Italy, 31 July 2008.
Mikko Innanen Track 13 Adler 3:28
Track 14 Phönix 2:18
Track 15 Merkur 5:52
Track 13 composed by Mikko Innanen, 14 and 15 by Mikko Innanen & Mika Kallio.
Three originals from a session by Mikko Innanen and drummer Mika Kallio,
recorded in January 2008 at Musapaja, Kuusankoski, Finland by Esa Kotilainen.
Sergey Letov
Track 16 Semipalatinsk 6:31 with Yury Parfenov - trumpet
Track 17 LeBorRa 8.32 with Alexei Borisov - electronics, mixing, Rada Anchevskaya – vocal
Track 16 recorded live at Ilkhom Theatre, Tashkent, Uzbekistan 19 May 2006 by Sergey Letov.
Track 17 at "Park Pobedy" Studio, Moscow, Russia, 4 January 2007 by Vladimir Anchevsky.
Javier Zalba
Track 18 Como Fué 2:09
Zalba’s unaccompanied solo on Ernesto Duarte’s Cuban standard
recorded 11 February 2009 in Estudio Lucero, Havana by Lucia Huergo
and Niurka Sánchez.
The Big Sax CD is a useful compilation of practitioners from around the world, including Italy, the US, UK, Finland, Russia and Cuba. Solo performance seems to be the essence of baritone playing and the majority of tracks (ranging one to five per artist) are just that, with the remainder adding an accompanist (piano, violin, drums, trumpet, electronics) to form various combinations. Only American Charles Evans is represented in a (pianoless) quartet and Brit George Haslam makes the central statement with pianist Roi Maciaz on "El Puntanito". But the most offbeat and compelling offering comes from Russia’s Sergey Letov, who layers vocals and electronic effects over his sax to show what can move the baritone into jazz’ 2nd century. AAJ-NY June 2009, Jeff Stockton
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/newyork/aaj_ny_200906.pdf
ARTISTES VARIÉS-VARIOUS ARTISTS / The BIG Sax CD (Slam Productions)
Derrière ce titre se cache une compilations d’improvisations au saxophone baryton. Au menu: l’Italien Carlo Actis Dato, l’Américain Charles Evans, le Britannique George Haslam, le Finlandais Mikko Innanen, le Russe Sergey Letov et le Cubain Javier Zalba. Je suis un fan fini de Dato et je connaissais bien Haslam, mais j’ai eu l’occasion de découvrir d’autres très bons souffleurs. Bon équilibre entre solos et pièces avec accompagnement, ainsi qu’entre approches jazz et plus "free".
Behind this title hides a compilation of baritone saxophone improvisations. The program includes Carlo Actis Dato (Italy), Charles Evan (USA), George Haslam (UK), Mikko Innanen (Finland), Sergey Letov (Russia), and Javier Zalba (Cuba). I am already an unconditional fan of Dato and I know Haslam’s work pretty well, but this CD gave the opportunity to hear more good blowers. The album includes several tracks from each saxman, and offers a nice balance between solos and accompanied pieces, and between jazzier takes and free playing.
F Couture Delire Musical May 2009.
