| ......Voted among the Top Ten New Issues in Cadence magazine¹s 2001 Record Poll.
³Moon Blue Boogie provides two distinctive settings for Whitecage¹s reeds and electronics. The first is in a trio with Tomas Ulrich (cello) and Jay Rosen (drums and percussion), while the second is a quartet with Rosen, Chris Dahlgren (bass, electronics) and Sabir Mateen (alto & tenor sax, clarinet, flute). Each of the cuts on this live release is comprised of a flowing suite. Ulrich can drive the trio with a bouncing swing, or quiet things down to a contemplative calm. His skittering harmonics and dulcet arco provide a striking foil for Whitecage¹s clean, rounded tone. The quartet with Mateen is a more fiery affair. The two reed players provide an effective contrast. Mateen seems to stroke the energy of the music with his muscular approach to the horn. His keening momentum and split tones provide an urgency to the improvisations, and Whitecage responds with molten outpourings of energy. On the third cut, Mateen¹s flowing flute playing provides fluid contrast to the leader¹s cutting alto, leading to an interplay of scorching intensity. Though electronics do play a role in Whitecage¹s playing on these two sets, it is much more restrained; reserved for sections of color rather than providing a main thrust to the improvisations. With both units, Whitecage moves the improvisations in and out of funky, pulse-driven sections. But there is never anything forced or compromising about it.² - Michael Rosenstein, Cadence
Important Note: This is a CDR produced by the artist. Mark would like you to know there is no evidence that CDRs have any longevity issues and that studies show CDRs should last at least 75 years. "Recent releases on the independent Acoustics label present the listener with a candid snapshot of the very active modern jazz, new music saxophonist/improviser Mark Whitecage as Moon Blue Boogie is perhaps one of the artist's finest efforts to date. One of three so called, "extremely limited releases", here "Mark Whitecage & Eclectic Electric" are caught live at New York City¹s "Knitting Factory" and "Cornelia Street Cafe" venues.
No doubt Whitecage has attained a significant or easily discernible comfort zone performing with drummer Jay Rosen, cellist Tomas Ulrich, bassist Chris Dahlgren and woodwind specialist Sabir Mateen as the overall camaraderie and intuitiveness exhibited within these often vibrant encounters will affirm those sentiments. On the first piece, "Moon Blue Boogie - Prayer", the band emits an underlying and somewhat abstract Ellingtonian type theme, brimming with chromatic scales, frisky dialogue and Ulrich's zealous soloing and counterpoint techniques.
The thirty-minute opus titled, "Cityscapes Suite" features Mateen's soulful, penetrating attack in concert with Whitecage's jagged statements, Rosen's sweeping flurries and Dahlgren's multidirectional walking bass lines. Here, the band expands simple blues based motifs amid a plethora of diversionary tactics and hard, free form blowing.
Whitecage's electronically altered alto sax invokes a stereo effect on Tadd Dameron's "Good Bait" as the lead soloists playfully annihilate the late composer's memorable themes with frenzied abandon, whereas the band finalizes the proceedings with Tomas Ulrich's buzzing and humming free style cello performance on his world music composition titled, ³Sizzle" ...........Recommended!" - Glenn Astarita, AllAboutJazz.com |