Buzz

Artist: Ben Allison & Medicine Wheel
Label: Palmetto Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 753957210120
EAN: 0753957210120
ASIN: B00022GK3M

Release Date: 2004-05-25

Related Categories:

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Listmania:

My first List...Thing
A Musical Looking Glass
Radio Free Minnesota, 2004
Hippest Music I know of (Mostly Jazz)

Tracks:

Respiration
Buzz
Green Al
Mauritania
Erato
R&B Fantasy
Across the Universe

Similar Items:

Peace Pipe
Riding the Nuclear Tiger
Third Eye
Medicine Wheel
In the Loop

Customer Reviews:

First exposure to Ben grabbed my attention ..........2005-06-07

Amazing -- a bassist leading a session without a single solo. A great mix without four contact mics attached to the big fiddle. This guy gets a major "bravo" just for that.
Allison still puts himself out front, but only in the best possible way: with his fabulous compositions! Made me think of Charles Mingus a couple of times as I listened. Great stuff, and truly progressive without getting into obnoxious dissonance or "free jazz." That, friends, takes some talent.
Any drawbacks? Well, the playing time won't blow you away; but personally, I'd rather have quality than quantity.
I've withdrawn a full star, however, for the clunking anti-climax to this great recording; it's a real letdown of an attempt (apparently) to find some high artistic merit in "Across the Universe." Why do even the most ingenious musicians wreck their own work by indulging some Beatles fixation? I've never understood why so many people cling to this ancient junk.
Oh well, If I were putting out the kind of killer music Allison is, I suppose I'd expect an occasional indulgence myself, so big props to the guy and his whole band.

Composer of new jazz.......2005-03-05

I first heard about Ben Allison from Amazon. I had a chance to see the group at Birdland while I was in town last year. The musicians and performance were great, but that was only part of it. The real story was the construction of the pieces. Ben Allison is one of the most inventive composers on the scene today. The structures of these tunes are original and eternal. My wife the classical scholar says it is chamber jazz/ Bach, but that to me suggests more sedate music. If comparisons can be made, I agree with the earlier reviewer that there is something of Radiohead as Brad Mehldau plays them. The potential of jazz is boundless. The players are incomparably talented, and there are no limits to the ideas and idioms they can express. Some of the other great players of today have brought the music forward with their own contributions, Danilo Perez with his melodies and rhythms from Panama and the Caribbean, Joshua Redman with his inventive blues progressions and dynamic compositions, Roy Hargrove with the amalgam of hip-hop and gospel with fusion, Pat Metheny with his soundscapes, Walt Weiskopf with his arrangements of 12 piece ensembles. Ben Allison and his New York Jazz Composers Collective peers are creating compelling accessible music. I have great love and enthusiasm for all of his albums; Buzz the most recent is a good place to begin.

They Are At It Again.......2004-06-16

I have vey little to add to the other reviewers excellent remarks BUT as a listener to the Jazz Composers Collective for about 10 years I encourage you if you enjoyed this challenging yet accessible music to explore other excellent "partnerships" under their individual names.Anything by Ben Allison is great but check out Peace Pipe.Ted Nash' latest Still Evolved is excellent and includes Wynton in a cameo.Michael Blake's Drift is his best and Frank's Kimbrough Quickening is excellent piano trio stuff. Another of of their "clan" is Matt Wilson who released an inventive quartet cd Humidity last year.Lastly they put out theier masterpiece in my opinion with The Herbie Nichols Project[the best] Finally please SUPPORT these guys they ARE modern jazz.No cliches.Just taking chances creatively.

Accessible but forward thinking ..........2004-06-14

Buzz opens with an electric piano riff that wouldn't sound out of place on either a Radiohead or Brad Mehldau record. No coincidence that Mehldau's piano trio covers Radiohead tunes frequently then, is it? This is modern jazz, albeit jazz more often influenced by its pop contemporaries than it is constrained by bygone traditions.

A plethora of styles abound on bassist and leader Ben Allison's new album. There are up-tempo cookers, sumptuous ballads and world music fusions, but they never drift into the sort of eclectic genre hoping that ruins many a similar effort. Allison's writing is very distinct and that comes across very strongly in these pieces. Playing music that is both beautiful and intense is not easy, yet for this ensemble it almost seems like second nature.

A key point can be made with the closing track, a cover of the Beatles tune Across the Universe. Allison has gone and converted this familiar tune into a fuge. The melody is stated by the horns, accompanied by the rhythm section and repeated, with minor melodic variations, over and over again. Does this make it jazz? Or is it some sort of classical hybrid? Or is it instrumental rock? It doesn't matter, it's simply gorgeous. It is one of the few Beatles covers performed by a jazz ensemble I've ever wanted to hear more than once. And that is a rare treat indeed.

Thanks Ben, for the Buzz you created........2004-06-10

Beautiful music from Medicine Wheel featuring innovative and sophisticated compositions by Ben Allison, artistic director of Jazz Composers Collective. These guys are definitely at the peak of their career, producing better and better music with every new release. "Buzz" as an album is totally approachable, yet intriguingly detailed and masterfully crafted. All the solos are smart, musical, not self-centered and they blend perfectly into the arrangements. (I wouldn't mind some more from Michael Blake though, I think his solo in "Peace Pipe" from Allison's previous album is one of the best pieces of improvised music I have ever heard)

The more I listen to Ben Allison's music, the more I think of Charles Mingus. Well, he is a very advanced bass player with sharp composition skills, so the resemblance is obvious. But there is also a textural similarity, the occasional two tenors and especially the recent addition of trombone in the ensemble plus the contrasting dark and light nature of the tunes keeps reminding me of "Ah Um", one of my favorite albums. So if you like that period of Mingus then you will most probably like this album.

Overall, great music from a group of creative individuals. I am looking forward to their next project.

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

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