Tactiles
ASIN: B0000CG8FR
Editorial Reviews
Bill Frisell, Blindfold Test, Down Beat
"I really like it. I need to check this guy out! Five stars."
Product Description
Pi Recordings is proud to release Tactiles, the second album by Liberty Ellman, one of New York's most imaginative and unorthodox guitarist/composers. Featuring Mark Shim on tenor saxophone, Blue Note recording artist Greg Osby on alto sax on three tracks, Stephan Crump on bass and Eric Harland on drums, Tactiles documents sounds and concepts that have been gestating since Ellman returned to his native New York from the Bay Area in 1998. It is a fitting follow-up to the critically acclaimed Orthodoxy, which Ellman released in 1998 on his own Red Giant label. Tactiles contains nine originals, all highlighting Ellman's spiky, unpredictable lines, his arid and suggestive harmonies and his complex yet infectious rhythms.
Ellman employs a clean, unadorned sound on Tactiles, achieving rich timbral contrasts and an alluring sonic blend with Mark Shim's weighty, gruff tenor sax. Crump and Harland flourish within Ellman's rhythmic frameworks on pieces such as "Excavation, "Helios" and "Post Approval." In these workouts, Ellman crafts a dense polyrhythmic language and focuses the heated interaction with his undulating single-note lines and cliche-free chording. We also hear Osby's distinctive sound on three tracks: the majestic ballad "Temporary Aid," the midtempo funk riddle "How Many Texts" and the furiously swinging "Ultraviolet."
Since relocating in New York, Ellman has performed extensively with his own trio and quartet, with Crump and Shim as charter members. He has also gained wide-ranging experience as a sideman with some of jazz's most adventurous thinkers, including Greg Osby, Henry Threadgill, Steven Bernstein and Lawrence "Butch" Morris.
Tactiles
Tactiles,Liberty Ellman,Pi Recordings,Jazz,Jazz Music,Jazz-Funk,M-Base,Pop,Post-Bop
Average customer rating: 
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Tactiles
Liberty Ellman Manufacturer: Pi Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  Bebop General
| Bebop
| Jazz
| Styles
| Music
General
| Jazz
| Styles
| Music
Modern Postbebop
| Jazz
| Styles
| Music
Jazz Funk
| Funk
| R&B
| Styles
| Music
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ASIN: B0000CG8FR Release Date: 2003-10-21 |
Tracks:
Album Description
Pi Recordings is proud to release Tactiles, the second album by Liberty Ellman, one of New York's most imaginative and unorthodox guitarist/composers. Featuring Mark Shim on tenor saxophone, Blue Note recording artist Greg Osby on alto sax on three tracks, Stephan Crump on bass and Eric Harland on drums, Tactiles documents sounds and concepts that have been gestating since Ellman returned to his native New York from the Bay Area in 1998. It is a fitting follow-up to the critically acclaimed Orthodoxy, which Ellman released in 1998 on his own Red Giant label. Tactiles contains nine originals, all highlighting Ellman's spiky, unpredictable lines, his arid and suggestive harmonies and his complex yet infectious rhythms.Ellman employs a clean, unadorned sound on Tactiles, achieving rich timbral contrasts and an alluring sonic blend with Mark Shim's weighty, gruff tenor sax. Crump and Harland flourish within Ellman's rhythmic frameworks on pieces such as "Excavation, "Helios" and "Post Approval." In these workouts, Ellman crafts a dense polyrhythmic language and focuses the heated interaction with his undulating single-note lines and cliche-free chording. We also hear Osby's distinctive sound on three tracks: the majestic ballad "Temporary Aid," the midtempo funk riddle "How Many Texts" and the furiously swinging "Ultraviolet."
Since relocating in New York, Ellman has performed extensively with his own trio and quartet, with Crump and Shim as charter members. He has also gained wide-ranging experience as a sideman with some of jazz's most adventurous thinkers, including Greg Osby, Henry Threadgill, Steven Bernstein and Lawrence "Butch" Morris.
Customer Reviews:
Recommended........2007-06-06
The key to expanded musical horizons.......2004-04-24
Very what I call "earthereal," that is to say, cerebral (or mystical) and earthy at the same time. But the emphasis here's on the earthy. Although very sophisticated, this is music that makes a direct, almost "tactile" connection, as it were, in its ability to joyfully insinuate itself into the listener's consciousness.
Not at all conventionally pretty, it nevertheless has a very appealing melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic authority. This is music with a clear, albeit somewhat idiosyncratic, vision, music conversant with the entire scope of North American jazz, from swing to bop to post-bop to modal to free, familiar with all, beholden to none. Indeed the most salient character of this entirely remarkable music is the singularity of its concept combined with its easy listenability.
The core quartet, comprising Ellman on guitar, Mark Shim on tenor sax, Stephan Crump on acoustic bass, and Eric Harland on drums, consists of some of the very top-line younger jazz players, even if none of them is a household name. Liberty Ellman, of course, has had a long association with another young jazz iconoclast, the brilliant pianist Vijay Iyer. Mark Shim has recorded several (three, I believe) solo discs, all of exceptional quality, and all worth checking out. Stephan Crump, among the more original of the younger acoustic bassists and a fixture in the Boston-area jazz scene, brings a huge presence to the bottom end. And Eric Harland, master of deep swing and impeccable taste, is perfect for the drum chair. Altoist Greg Osby brings a deep groove and "young lion" credibility to three cuts, stamping the gorgeously out ballad, "Temporary Aid," with his distinct and formidable chops.
Perhaps not for everyone, but anyone with a true heart and strong jazz constitution will definitely want to check this one out.
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