Stereogum's 10 Best Jazz Albums Of 2016
Jazz had no breakout star on the scale of Kamasi Washington in 2016. Of course, the burly LA-based saxophonist who dominated 2015’s press coverage, even getting mainstream outlets to write about him, was the kind of story that comes along once in a generation, so expecting there to be a “next” one would be absurd. […]
Published: December 09, 2016 17:48
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This is a meeting written in the psychedelic sky. Everything seemed to announce it on the paths of the Portuguese stoner rock band Black Bombaim and of the German free jazz saxophonist Peter Brotzmann. The trio used to combine a saxophone to their music, usually choosing Rodrigo Amado, a first line figure of the jazz scene in Portugal, and also the late Steve Mackay, the tenor we hear on the pioneering (in what concerns this kind of mixtures) “L.A. Blues”, by Iggy Pop &The Stooges. Brotzmann had multiple experiences in the proximities of rock, from the group Last Exit, with Sonny Sharrock, Bill Laswell and Ronald Shannon Jackson, to Full Blast, in the company of Marino Pliakas and Michael Wertmuller, going through his partnerships with his son Caspar Brotzmann and with Fushitsusha, the band lead by Keiji Haino. The curious thing, in this collaboration, is that the guitar-bass-drums power trio never goes out of their track to meet Brotzmann half way and their guest doesn’t try any compromise to approach them. Putting it very simply: it wasn’t necessary. Listening to this music, we finally discover that there’s not much separating rock and jazz, at least when dealing with factors like jamming, exploring sound and having a cosmic understanding of creative freedom. Final result: this is one of the discographic pearls of the year 2016.
“The Distance” is an attractive opener, but it’s Formanek’s ambitious big-band *Exoskeleton* suite that dominates here, stuffing an introduction and eight \"parts\" into five tracks. In the prelude, Formanek’s bass is paired with wind-instrument harmony; intensity builds as piano, percussion, and guitar join. When the 18-piece group launches into “Part I - Impenetrable,” Formanek emerges as a gifted large-ensemble jazz composer, capable of orchestrating intensity and pensive cool. His band is formidable, featuring solos from players like guitarist Mary Halvorson (“Part V - Without Regrets”) and pianist Kris Davis (“Part VII - A Reptile Dysfunction”).
