Saxophonist-composer Tony Malaby engages the listener “in the mystery of creation and process” in a set of originals by Malaby, Bill Frisell, and others. Malaby’s emotive saxophone, and the dazzling array of sounds from percussionist John Hollenbeck and cellist Fred Lonberg, are presented in vivid detail in this 2.0/5.0 recording.
– Mark Werlin, All About Jazz / NativeDSD Music Reviewer
New York saxophonist Tony Malaby combines a broad and generous mastery of the whole jazz tradition with a true pathfinder’s spirit. In his Cello Trio he engages with two like-minded sonic explorers, the omni-dextrous drummer/percussionist John Hollenbeck and the genre-hopping Chicago cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, to create highly integrated, multi-faceted avant-jazz. Throughout, Malaby’s unmistakable blustery tenor and gorgeous, piercing soprano are constantly offset and complemented by Lonberg-Holm’s cello tactics and looping and Hollenbeck’s highly melodic percussive layering. This music combines freedom and discipline, openness and density, beauty and harshness, humor and seriousness in very personal ways. The audiophile recording and especially the multi-channel mix effectively transmit its expressive depth and audacity.
As members of the NY jazz elite, Hollenbeck and Malaby had often played together in different contexts, but neither had been in a group with Lonberg-Holm, whose studies with Morton Feldman and background in rock, noise, electronics, and the Chicago improv scene provided a refreshing stimulus to Tony: “I wanted to play with an instrument I really hadn’t improvised with a lot before, and I was also looking for somebody who could function in the bass role and who was going to bring a different kind of buoyancy to the feeling with the time and rhythm.”
The music’s richness also has a lot to do with Tony’s interest in painting, photography and film, and the way he draws on these artforms to think graphically and texturally, visualizing new musical structures through juxtaposing images, colors, and forms: “I’m always thinking that way, trying to get out of the jazz tenor headspace. For example, ‘Warblepeck’ – I’m trying to scribble and pick and be pointillistic with some of the timbres I use, at the same time drawing from nature, bird sounds, trying to get to a really primal space….I’ve been exposed to the films of Stan Brakhage, and that’s been a really big source of inspiration: how to transfer that to sound. Also paintings by Cy Twombley, Pierre Alechinsky, Mexican folk art, and classic film noir, and silent films, Buster Keaton. I draw from these elements in ways that really affect rhythm and pacing, not just the sonic and textural universe. I try to draw on the rhythm and pace involved in good storytelling.” Asked if he feels his music expresses a particular world-view, Tony replies: “I think mystery, allowing people to hear the process and not being afraid of that. I like creating and listening to music where you can really hear people engaged in the mystery of creation and process. We’re having such a blast and really surrendering to that, and not caught up in perfection.”
Tony Malaby – tenor & soprano saxophones
Fred Lonberg-Holm – cello and electronics
John Hollenbeck – drums, marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, melodica, small kitchen appliances
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 00:54:04
Additional information
Label | |
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SKU | PWSGLSA15742 |
Qualities | |
Channels | |
Artists | |
Composers | |
Genres | |
Instruments | Electronics, Marimba, Tenor Saxophone, Cello, Drums, Soprano saxophone |
Original Recording Format | |
Release Date | January 9, 2025 |
Press reviews
Dusted Magazine
“Malaby has fashioned a group that captures his own hybrid vision, blending composition and improvisation in frameworks that cross cultures and genres without pretense….On the beautifully meditative “Waiting Inside,” Hollenbeck’s melodies and Lonberg-Holm’s cello conjure visions of India as Malaby emotes with soft sinewy lines. “Warblepeck” finds Lonberg-Holm sounding as if he’s playing berimbau. Hollenbeck’s ghostly melodica echos Malaby’s sparse melodic musings on “Anemone” before a gorgeous passage of unison brings the piece to another phase.”
PopMatters
“…a recording of avant-garde jazz that fuses delicate whimsy with gutbucket daring.”
Free Jazz Blog
“Technical skill on the instrument is often an impediment to creativity, but sometimes, as on this album, it can be unbelievably refreshing and inventive. Tony Malaby’s sax playing is among the best of the moment, and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and John Hollenbeck on percussion are two musicians with lots of musical baggage, ranging from traditional to experimental music. On Warblepeck they bring something unique : melodic power, rhythmic complexities and musical surprises that would already be great on one track, yet they keep the high quality and creativity on each of the eleven tracks….The great thing is that despite their stellar technical skills, these musicians don’t take themselves too seriously, they have fun playing this music….Despite the craftiness and the subtle musical explorations, the emotional component is very strong, because of Malaby’s very sensitive sound, but also because of Lonberg-Holm’s rich pallette and Hollenbeck’s drive and sense of melody. This music is something else, and it demonstrates that avant-garde can be very accessible, rhythmic, emotional and great fun. Don’t miss it.”
All About Jazz
“…the unorthodox yet versatile combination of Lonberg-Holm’s electronic EFX and Hollenbeck’s arsenal of exotic percussion reveals a session rich in kaleidoscopic textures and tones….[Malaby’s] gruff tenor veers from pointillist accents (“Anemonie”) to vociferous grunts (“Warblepeck”) while his sinuous soprano pivots between lyrical glissandos (“Scribble Boy”) and fervent chromaticism (“Remolino”)….From effervescent xylophone cadences and scintillating glockenspiel accents to pulverizing trap set salvos, [Hollenbeck] unveils an endlessly fascinating array of sound. His tuneful abilities materialize on a haunting cover of Bill Frisell’s “Waiting Inside,” as his bittersweet melodica strains intermesh with sonorous cello and understated tenor….[Lonberg-Holm] conjures surging feedback, oscillating loops and distorted power chords from his amplified instrument. His overdriven double stops on “Two Shadows” and “Sky Church” summon metallic sheets of sound, goading Malaby’s ferocious tenor and Hollenbeck’s pneumatic drum kit into a frenzy. Conversely, his insectoid blips and bleeps on “Jackhat 1” and “Jackhat 2″ intertwine with Hollenbeck’s shimmering accents and the leader’s multiphonic fragments, weaving a spectral panorama….Embracing the process, rather than the finished product, Malaby’s Cello Trio integrates their improvisational working method into their core aesthetic, finding beauty in the mystery of spontaneous creation….Warblepeck is a fascinating electro-acoustic effort and Malaby’s most personal and adventurous recording to date.”
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