Polar Bear - Peepers

Polar Bear
Peepers
(2010, Leaf)
RIYL = Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis

What do I know about jazz? I mean real jazz with all of its genre specific denotations and in-crowd posturing? Nothing. Absolutely. But, one thing I know is that I love it regardless. So, in reviewing this, Polar Bear’s fourth or fifth or whatever album, Peepers, I am here to simply assert that, yes, I like it. I like it a lot. That’s pretty plain right? I mean normally I find it pretty easy, when reviewing the abstract stuff, to just drift off into meaninglessness; it’s effortless. But here, no. Peepers cannot be solely understood/passed-off on the basis of my mind bent in its direction. That said, this is what I know: 1 – Polar Bear’s got funk. Things open up kicking on “Happy For You,” and “Bap Bap Bap.” However, “Bap Bap Bap” is dual natured and a transition piece with that. Which brings me to 2 – Polar Bear’s got soul. That deep, sucking mass that hits you low and drags you down like an anchor. 3 – Polar Bear’s got imagination. Honestly, a lot of what Peepers presents feels like the classic jazz of those late greats, which is a total compliment to its fluidity and pulse, but that doesn’t mean that Polar Bear doesn’t break into some shifty, cranky, avant garde territory. “Drunken Pharaoh” dabbles expertly, straddling the line between that standard funk and falling apart. And that’s just three tracks in. Peepers is comprehensive, slick and choppy in all the right places, and quintessential for jazz fanboys and casual listeners alike. It’s an indie crossover for suresies.

-Thistle

97.

Colleen
Everyone Alive Wants Answers
(Leaf, 2003)

The debut work of Colleen, Everyone Alive Wants Answers is still her best work. Filled with chamber orchestra instrumentation, all speckled and groaning, and looped into an odd baroque mystery. With the addition of some unsettling vocal samples, Colleen’s first recorded work is replete with both Victorian magnificence and warped hauntings. Wholly original and breathtakingly beautiful like a ghostly maze of dimly lit rooms filled with distinct areas of fog.

-Thistle

2008 Round Up Pt. 4

More worthy releases from last year that we missed.

Mary Halvorson/Jessica Pavone/Devin Hoff/Ches Smith
Calling All Portraits
(2008, Skykap)

Calling All Portraits is worthy of much more than I am able to say in this little space. In fact, the album is probably the instigator to the writers block I’ve had for the past couple weeks. Consisting of a veritable who’s who of the Brooklyn improve/free jazz scene, Calling All Portraits is a nimble, engaging whirlwind of a record that could only come from talent such as this. The instrumentation is as follows: Halvorson on guitar, Pavone on viola (I think), Hoff on bass and Smith on drums. Each band member takes turns leading the rest of the crew for thick ride that is equal parts composed and improvised, dealing in both free jazz and chamber classical, and all without any of fatty, unlistenable chunks that usually accompany such music. A real tour de force and probably my favourite jazz album of last year.

Murcof
The Versailles Sessions
(12.2008, Leaf)

Culled from compositions prepared specifically for a festival in Versailles in 2007, Murcof makes a bit of a departure from his patented electronics with six tracks composed solely with 17th century baroque instruments. Pitched as unique project to be consumed in-between ‘proper’ releases, The Versailles Sessions certainly holds its own as another monument to Murcof’s eclectic, powerful musicianship. Dark and brooding with a sense of an ancient world twisted into the present, The Versailles Sessions morph with a fluid ease that can only be attributed to inspiration. A beautifully dynamic disc with surprising replay value.

Arve Henriksen
Cartography
(10.2008, ECM Records)

Rune Grammofon mainstay and Supersilent co-founder, has wandered from his home label for his fourth solo release with ECM. I don’t have any background on the label change, but it doesn’t really seem to matter since the already highly esteemed Norwegian trumpeter has created such a devastatingly gorgeous release with Cartography. Extremely measured and soulful with the kind of soul that seem to only be available to the trumpet, Henriksen builds on the shoulders of his prior work with heartbreaking trumpet lines that are often accompanied by vocal specters that float and intertwine with the instrumentation. Cartography is simply gorgeous and worthy of a much better equipped write up. Probably tied with Calling All Portraits as jazz album of 2008.

-Mr. Thistle