deviantics reviews

 

Jazziz November 1999
Without much fanfare, Chris Speed's originality, chops, and melodicism have made him one of the best tenor-sax and clarinet players in today's avant-garde. Here, he's joined by his frequent sidemen; trumpeter Cuong Vu, bassist Skuli Sverrisson, and drummer Jim Black. Much of the work is influenced by Balkan music; it's modal-based and performed in odd meters. " Syncretics," however, is free jazz. This is a relaxed session with an emphasis on solo and collective improvising. Speed stands out on both his instruments. His relatively light tone and sparing use of vibrato suggest he's drawn on the Lester Young school. There's also a Coltrane influence in his work. On clarinet, his pure pretty tone reminds of Jimmy Hamilton, although it probably comes from classical training. On both instruments, he's melodically inventive and thoughtful. Cuong Vu performs imaginatively and
demonstrates versatility; he can improvise pensively or
forcefully. He structures solos nicely and does some growling to add timbral variety to them. Sverrisson has got it all: chops, sensitivity, and originality. He's able to harness his virtuosity in the process of doing a great job as an accompanist and ensemble player (there's some very cohesive collective playing going on here). And he's a very fine soloist who brings all registers of his instrument into play. As is also evidenced by his solo album, Sermonie, he's one of the most sophisticated and advanced musicians around in the area of using electronic technique. Black has excelled with Pachora, Speed, and Dave Douglas in performing Balkan-influenced music. In all contexts, he keeps things moving without being obtrusive. His playing is crisp and tasty.
- Harvey Pekar

 

La Folia
Tenor sax and clarinetist Chris Speed has a new disc, Deviantics [Songlines 1999], and indeed they play with one's expectations. The opening track starts with a great drum lead-in by Jim Black, only to trick your senses by hitting a rock beat, then suddenly pulling back. Black knows how to tease; the four tracks which have rock-based rhythms are not consistently so and change tempos unexpectedly and with electric bassist Skuli Sverrisson provides rich support. Black turns in some fabulous performances on melodica, in whose hands it is not a toy, especially on "Eddie Cano," a moody noir with trumpeter Cuong Vu and Speed doing a sexy horn twosome over Sverrisson’s bed. My favorite tracks are the free and the balladic explorations, specially "Tulip," by Sverrisson. On this disc, the stars are the two horns. Vu is at his best here, showing consistent melodic invention and interplay. Speed's dexterity and lines are always interesting, whether he's the sideperson or, as here, the leader. The final track is a fun "East Europe Rundown," avoiding the pitfalls of the faux-klez that abounds these days.
- Steve Koenig

 

Musings
The line-up and, to an extent, the sound of this group does, of course, recall Ornette's classic Atlantic sessions. The pianoless quartet, with its two melody instruments capable of elaborating independent, contrapuntal lines without the shackles of a chord progression, was revolutionary then and has proved a durable format. It's the same line-up, for example, as Masada, and it's very close to Tim Berne's Bloodcount, of which both Speed and Black are alumni. Speed has something of Berne about his playing. Like Berne's, it's
deeply indebted to Ornette, with its reliance on motivic development and beautifully lilting, zig-zag melodies. Both men also play with a gutsiness which the older player shied away from, perhaps because he really did pay his bar-walking dues and as the composer of "Skies of America" he doesn't care to remember them. Yet few would confuse Speed and Berne; the former has a less querelous tone, a more flowing melodicism than is typical of his erstwhile employer. All of which is not to imply that he's a laid-back tenor player -- this is a cooking album, it's just not a screaming one -- but his clarinet is as limpid and arch as one might expect. Sverrisson's sole compositional credit, "Tulip", makes lovely use of the instrument, pitted against some very minimal drums
and interjections from the trumpet. What Speed's quartet plays is something akin to the music of "The Shape of Things to Come" or the other discs of that period, but updated primarily
by virtue of Jim Black's funky, often rock-oriented drumming. Rarely does this music swing in the way that free jazz often does; one is reminded of the strolling rhythm of "Lonely Woman" rather than Elvin Jones' blasting triplets. Right down to the melodica, Jim Black might look like Jack DeJohnette on
paper, but his sound is altogether more modern, and much more open to rock innovations. One suspects him of playing along to Yes albums in the garage during formative years, but that's pure speculation, of course. The Ornette comparison isn't always helpful, of course. Sverrisson is no Charlie Haden, and unless this writer is much mistaken he's playing fretless bass guitar on this session with a large spoonful of funk which blends with Black's futuristic Brufordisms perfectly. Cuong Vu is a long way from Don Cherry, too, sounding more like a sort of downtown, souped-up and often hot-to-trot reincarnation of Chet Baker. Like Speed, he favours motifs which develop by
means of curling scales and pithy little comments. Vu is definitely a name to watch in the future; on the evidence of this session, he's a hugely talented player. If you like Bloodcount, you'll love this, but it's not just a Bloodcount
re-tread. There's interesting and fresh stuff going on here for anyone who likes their free jazz exciting, slightly funky, slightly rocky but also just a little bit traditional.
- Richard Cochrane

 

The Wire August 99
The common factor on these albums is saxophonist and clarinet player Chris Speed. Since 1992 he has been an important figure on New York's downtown scene, working with musicians like Tim Berne, Dave Douglas, Mark Dresser and his own collective Human Feel. His oblique, surprising lines take some unraveling, while his tenor's thick, treacle tone generates dark sonorities. For some time he's been immersed in the gypsy music of Eastern Europe. With his band Pachora, described as his "World jazz" outfit, he explores Mediterranean and Eastern music, especially from Greece and Turkey.
Apart from Speed, here on clarinet only, Pachora are Brad Shepik on Tamboura, electric saz and banjar - all lute-like instruments - Skuli Sverrisson on bass and Jim Black on percussion. Aside from the Icelandic Sverrisson, they are all from Seattle. By the standards of these musicians, the settings are in some ways fairly conventional, with regular pulse - albeit within a context of nine- and 13- beat metres - and clearly etched themes.
Of the recent synthesis of jazz of jazz and eastern folk music following in the wake of John Coltrane's modal improvisations - among them Zorn's own Masada and Dave Douglas's Tiny Bell Trio - Pachora are the more thoroughgoing. Four tracks of Unn offer traditional material, while the originals are in related vein. Jim Black's slow "Idorno" is based on an intriguing off-kilter rhythm. It is beautifully plangent. The traditional "Prevezaniko Syrto" is lyrical and, for once, four to the bar.
Sverrisson and Black turn up with the impressive Vietnam-born trumpeter Cuong Vu on Speed's own album Deviantics. Vu studied at the New England Conservatory with Joe Maneri, but fortunately hasn't turned out doleful and microtonal. The line-up is the same as on Yeah No, Speed's debut for Songlines - the Vancouver based label whose astonishingly high level output is expanding the boundaries of new jazz. Balkan rhythms are again pervasive. An exception is the bleakly ambient "Tulip", where Cuong Vu sounds like Miles Davis. With Speed keeping the brakes on his clarinet, the atmosphere becomes even more enervated, while Jim Black's double time drumming add to the mystery. This is deep and sophisticated music.
- Andy Hamilton

 

Chicago Reader Feb 2000
New York reedist and composer Chris Speed - a veteran of groups led by Tim Berne, Myra Melford, and Dave Douglas, among others-has a voracious musical appetite, and with his own quartet he likes to feast on all his favorite things at once. Genre blending is part and parcel of jazz, but Speed's excellent group - trumpeter Cuong Vu, electric bassist Skuli Sverrisson, and drummer Jim Black - still manages to push the envelope, nailing audacious ideas that most musicians couldn't conceive. The first song on last year's Deviantics (Songlines) is called "Pith Remix", and the title isn't the tune's only nod to electronic dance music: throughout the piece Black mimics the hyperactive beats of drum n' bass, playing live what an artist like Squarpusher meticulously programs on a computer - only with greater variation. Weaving through Sverrisson's simple ascending and descending six-note bass line, he establishes a wildly kinetic groove over which Speed and Vu fire off tireless lines with staggering rhythmic and melodic agility. Other horn players - Ben Neil, Tm Hagan’s, Graham Haynes - have experimented more explicitly with electronic music, but Speed's organic, integrated approach is far more convincing. On Sverrisson's tune "Tulip" the group shifts gears to paint a delicate ambient soundscape: Vu and Speed sketch lovely legato passages that morph as they overlap, while Black provides a shifting murmur of bells, bowed cymbals, and soft brushwork and Sverrisson taps out subtle harmonic waves. Black, Speed and Sverrisson also play with guitarist Brad Shepik in the Balkan-flavored combo Pachora - whose fine new album, Ast (Knitting factory Works), highlights the sweet fluidity of Speed's clarinet playing - and other tunes on Deviantics have an exotic feel. But in Speed's group the pretty textures are secondary to the keen interplay between himself and Vu - one of the most exciting young trumpeters working today.
- Peter Margasak

 

Philadelphia City Paper
The irregular meters, distinctive phrasing and spiky harmonies of Eastern European and Middle Eastern music provide ample fodder for creative improvisation, when put to good use. Reedman Chris Speed, percussionist Jim Black, bassist Skuli Sverrisson and guitarist Brad Shepik (who also plays tambura, saz, and banjar) have developed a means of bathing intricate folk melodies in contemporary hues. On Unn, PAcHORA attacks their songs with festive exuberance, most notably on the uptempo "Dratch" and "Laz." Even the pensive compositions (e.g., "Idorno") contain a sort of latent momentum. Not surprisingly, there's some overlap between PAcHORA and Chris Speed's Deviantics ensemble, which features the same musicians (with trumpeter Cuong Vu replacing Shepik). Tunes like "Wheatstone" and "East Europe Rundown" feature some of the ethnic elements that characterize Unn. But while PAcHORA's strongest suit is a command of traditional materials, Deviantics adopts a more liberal approach, drawing just as heavily from progressive jazz, experimental rock and numerous other styles. Vu often employs near- and far-Eastern scales, but usually as a fleeting phrase in a series of convincing ideas. The same poignant restlessness fuels Black's collage of breakbeats with traditional percussion. Speed plays more tenor saxophone than clarinet in this context, and when he does channel Coltrane (as on "Valya"), the effect is compelling. What these musicians have crafted is rapidly developing into an oeuvre. Both of these recent releases showcase their wide range of influences, near-telepathic interplay, and two distinctive but overlapping identities.
-Nate Chinen

 

Epulse
A youthful veteran of such downtown NYC combos as those led by Myra Melford, Erik Friedlander and Tim Berne, clarinetist/saxophonist CHRIS SPEED has proven in a variety of settings to be a versatile sideman. But that doesn't always translate into strong leadership. So, on 'DEVIANTICS'
(Songlines, out now), it's nice to hear how his quartet (featuring Cuong Vu on trumpet, bassist Skuli Sverrisson and drummer Jim Black) continues to grow together. There's a more assured sense of interplay than on the band's earlier CD, and they find interesting ways to add character to the Speed's sketchy, Eastern European-flavored tunes. Vu is the most engaging soloist, injecting raspy textures and large interval leaps into his lines (hear "Wheatstone"); Speed himself is less freewheeling, content to keep his cards close to the vest. Fortunately, the foursome likes to weave separate parts into a contrapuntal web of activity, as on "Pith Remix" and
" East Europe Rundown," raising the energy quotient accordingly. Elsewhere, as a composer Speed likes to delay the appearance of his themes, or write pieces with multiple melodies so they don't always end the way they start. The most raucous is "Reconnoiter," a serpentine song with heavy drum
backbeats, compared to "Tulip," which moves along at a snail's pace. Still evolving, it's a band with real promise.
- Art Lange

 

Waterfront Week
Speed Reconstructed
Chris Speed is a talent to watch out for. His tenor saxophone and clarinet playing have graced recordings by Tim Berne, Myra Melford and Dave Douglas, as well as the group world music-with-jazz-undertones Pachora. Now he gets to spotlight his own jazz quartet, with the superb, varied Deviantics. Along with Speed, the players are: Cuong Vu, trumpet; Skuli Sverrisson, bass; Jim Black, drums and melodica. With the piano/guitar-less line-up, you'd think the sound would be reminiscent of the Ornette Coleman quartets of the 60s and early 70s, and that's a fair assessment ---- superficially. But the Speed ensemble doesn't merely mimic the past. Speed's open-ended compositions span a variety of styles that spur the players to bring out their best for the ensemble and the tune. Whether tackling a Middle Eastern-flavored groove ("Wheatstone"), ethereal free improvisation ("Tulip") or punchy, funk tinged Don Cherry-meets-Herbie Hancock-at-Jimmy Giuffre's-house jazz ("Reconnoiter"), Speed & Co. can do it all. But it avoids the "watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat" smorgasbord approach - the band sound committed to what it's doing. Black is a wonderfully versatile percussionist, laying down "free" coloration and loping propulsion. Vu's trumpet crackles with the twin fires of Don Cherry and Freddie Hubbard but sounding like himself. This is The Stuff, the Stuff that reminds one that jazz is a virile organism despite some folk's attempts to turn it into an uptown confection or a museum piece. (Wynton who?)
-Mark Keresman

 

Modern Drummer Nov 99
Speed's Manhattan-based quartet gravitates to Knitting Factory-styled, collective improvisation, basing their tumbling time changes and eclectic melodies on Eastern European premises. Always charting new ground, they never visit the same idea twice. Brash Bulgarian melodies over supercharged Tango beats? You got'em. Haunting Czech Folk tunes over tumbling Klezmer drum solos? We're not kidding.
On "Pith Remix," Jim Black's percussion/drums land like a bomb exploding, all twinkling bells, farting bass drum, and humorous sticks dribbling on the snare drum, until he locks unto a ferocious 16th-note groove that recalls John Bonham in ballet slippers. Sometimes a carnival barker with an array of oddball sounds, other times a gypsy charmer with romantic brushwork and swelling cymbals, Black is a drum magician who never ceases to surprise. This is a challenging and fascinating record, both melodically and rhythmically. Deviant for sure - and that's only half of the fun.
-Ken Micallef

 

This punch-up quartet, known somewhat as Yeah No, showcases Speed's virtuosity and that of his mates (Jim Black, drums; Cuong Vu, trumpet; and Skuli Sverrisson, bass). They float and sting throughout Deviantics, a solid statement of the now sound of New York jazz in this late '90s hour. Speed's writing is strong and inventive and his leadership skills propel out front of the killer tandem of Black and Sverrisson. Cuong Vu is a singular voice on the scene telling new trumpet stories as they come to him in improvisational know-how. Fiery as this disc is at times, it is a more lyrical and introspective attempt at jazz languages than the earlier, harder yeah No record from Vancouver's always interesting Songlines label. Recommended here for its collective brilliance, exploratory spirit and its sure-handed capture of the meaning of jazz for the lucky listeners of right now.
- Spike Taylor

 

Group improvisation over the steady beats of Jim Black (Dave Douglas' Tiny Bell Trio, Ellery Eseklin, Satoko Fujii) on drums works to excellent effect in with Chris Speed's (Pachora, Dave Douglas, Eric Friedlander) lineup. This is the same lineup with which he produced YEAH NO (Songlines), another powerful extemporaneous recording. Speed's instruments of choice on this recording are tenor sax and clarinet. Forging ahead with him into the cosmic reaches is Cuong Vu (Dave Douglas, VU-TET, Orange Then Blue) on trumpet. Each pieces starts from a melodic base, as in the cool jazz rumination of tenor sax in conversation with itself on "Eddie Cano." It is in this piece that the group does not simply unleash their creative forces. With the following track, "Tulip," it composes a relatively serene island bookended by tracks that are more dynamic. This ebb and flow of programming and display of free jazz prowess by Speed and Vu working in tandem makes Deviantics an adventurous, art-jazz thriller.
- Tom "Tearaway" Shulte

 

All About Jazz
Multi-reedman Chris Speed is a busy man these days. Speed’s involvement with cutting edge bands or artists such as “Orange Then Blue”, “Pachora”, James Emery, Jerry Granelli and Tim Berne’s “Bloodcount” put him in the heart or forefront of 90’s style modern jazz. Deviantics is Speed’s 2nd solo release, both of which are on the Songlines label.
Chris Speed has graduated from the so-called “young lion” status and is without a doubt a star who has most certainly, risen! A gifted technician and composer, Speed is a young stylist with a clear vision. Here, Speed utilizes the wondrous talents of bassist Skuli Sverrisson, trumpeter Cuong Vu and drummer-percussionist, Jim Black. What have here is * of the wonderful Balkan influenced jazz group, “Pachora” (See AAJ May 99 review). Speed’s composition, “Pith Remix” gets the ball rolling so to speak as Speed’s richly textured and fluent clarinet work leads the band into free-jazz motifs supplemented with brief yet enticing choruses by Speed and trumpet virtuoso Cuong Vu. Skuli Sverrisson’s electric bass work is enormous in scope. Throughout, Sverrisson displays technical gifts that in most instances would stop onlookers or other musicians in their tracks. Sverrisson is the perfect foil for Speed’s charging yet often-complex charts. Jim Black and Sverrisson are enigmatic and indeed one of the dynamic duo rhythm sections on the planet. Speed’s composition, “Reconnoiter” features a beautiful melody line as Speed on tenor and Vu exchange vibrant choruses and segue into generous doses of improvisation and dialogue. Throughout, Speed and Vu square off yet are also inclined to alter their respective courses, often in climactic fashion while eventually reconvening at some point within a particular composition. On "Reconnoiter", Black and Sverrisson fill in the gaps with gobs of power and shifting tempos while seldom if ever, losing the pulse. Jim Black is also liable to provide tonal color through his effective utilization of cymbals and percussion as in Sverrisson’s sublime composition titled,“Tulip” although at times, this piece meanders a bit. Speed’s “Wheatstone” is a highlight, which contains some Balkan influenced overtones as Speed’s commanding and lyrically gorgeous tenor work leads the charge. Again, we find Speed and Vu reciting bright choruses, which are at times, streamlined or briefly stated. Speed’s “East Europe Rundown” features more Balkan influenced themes over a moderate backbeat. All in all, another fine effort from Speed and his estimable associates.
Deviantics is for the most part, an exemplary effort as we continue to follow Speed’s highly intelligent and noticeably confident path through modern jazz.
Strongly Recommended! * * * * 1/2
- Glenn Astarita

 

Your About.com Guide to: Jazz
Deviantics is a heartfelt avant-garde recording of four very talented, creative musicians whose soul and musicianship is such that we care about where their musical flights take us.
Sverrisson and Black show the ability to groove well with each other, while listening to the soundscape being painted by Speed and Vu. "Tulip," for example, is a haunting series of long notes and drawn out groaning melodies that float in space for a while, before Black establishes his own beat using brushes. It all seems to fit together beautifully, which is the unique gift of a good free musician. The group creates a wide variety of moods as they draw from their various musical experiences. Speed in particular, after studying at the New England Conservatory of Music, has experimented with the gypsy music of Eastern Europe. His band Pachora made two recordings on the Knitting Factory label which followed that Balkan influence. That thread is most apparent on the song "East Europe Rundown." This song is a beautiful combination of Eastern scales and a gypsy beat that branches out into freer jazz. "Valya" begins with Sverrisson stating a gypsy-folk theme using guitar-like upper strings. Sverrisson has appeared on over 30 recordings with Icelandic artists, and tours with Allan Holdsworth. He brings a rock feel into songs on occasion, and has a great ability to state a theme of simplicity and build on it, branching off in directions that support the music. "Reconnoiter" starts of with a tight 9/4 groove under a unison sax/trumpet melody that brings to mind Bill Bruford's music. Speed goes on to explore and the bass and drums begin to follow suit, going further and further from home in the process. Cuong Vu then takes the band away with a stellar solo. If you enjoy avant-garde jazz or world music, you'll love this CD.
- Blaine Fallis

 

CD REVIEW +
Deviantics ripples with succinct ideas and crackles with the exuberance of lucid, free-wheeling improvisation. Ignited by drummer Jim Black's typically incendiary attack, Chris Speed on both clarinet and tenor saxophone and trumpeter Cuong Vu blow with the cool burn of dry ice. The open harmonic space as elocuted by the trumpet-sax-bass-drums lineup is rooted in the concepts pioneered by Ornette Coleman as refracted through subsequent developments and Speed's own directions -- jazz-rock fusion, Eastern European gypsy music and his affiliations with Jim Zorn, Dave Douglas and Tim Berne, among others.
While the allusions to Coleman are ineluctible, this eight-tune collection reverberates with a forceful contemporary vibe supplied by a deep-bottom, electric-bass groove and a pulsating back-beat. In lesser hands, the two-beat emphasis could have degenerated into mindless repetition. Here, Black and bassist Skuli Sverrisson engage in intricate, high-energy interplay. Black churns relentlessly off Sverrisson's electric bolts while simultaneously reacting to the rhythmic nuances of Speed and Vu, sparking them on to renewed onslaughts, much in the way that drummer Jack DeJohnette interacted with bassist Dave Holland in Miles' post-Bitches Brew band. The entire quartet performs with an empathy, discipline and elan that are no doubt a product of their mutual exposures and associations. Speed, Vu and Black left Seattle to study in Boston -- Speed and Vu at the New England Conservatory and Black at Berklee
College. Each of them has carved a niche in the East Coast improvised-music scene. Sverrisson, a native of Iceland, studied at Berklee and has appeared on more than 30 recordings. On tenor, Speed favors elongated, storytelling lines, fractured by fierce, rapid-note bursts, a style that is reminiscent, if somewhat more conservatively executed, of Ornette collaborator Dewey Redman. Vu offers a buffed, soft-edged tone and an unusually fluent facility that lend a cool cerebrality to his solos. Vu's style is highly complementary to Speed's, especially when they engage in duet improvisations, although their similarities could lead one to wish for more contrast at times. In Speed's compositions, the Coleman influence is most evident in the playful melody of "Reconnoiter," recalling Coleman's "Joy of a Toy" or "Check Up." On "Pith Remix," the haunting mood conjured by Speed's clarinet and Vu's responses echo the spirit of "Woman," by clarinetist John Carter and trumpeter Bobby Bradford on their Flying Dutchman album, "Flight for Four," which is now long out of print and worth every effort to attain. It may not be coincidental that Vu's playing is congruent with the approach of Bradford, another Coleman disciple. Speed's ballad, "Valya," is a reconstruction of one of Ornette's most famed compositions, "Lonely Woman," down to Sverrisson's Charlie Hadenesque drones and Vu's Don Cherry-like wails and moans. Yet, Speed and company take it a step further, introducing a steady back-beat over which the intensity swells and another melodic theme develops, stated by Speed and Vu. The method is used with variations on several pieces, including the aforementioned "Pith Remix." "Eddie Cano," a tribute to the L.A. pianist, begins slowly with disjointed sound-making by Speed, Vu and Sverrisson. Black accompanies on melodica and eventually introduces a simple, blues-tinged chant that is repeated with evolving intensity as the other players blow around it. The theme dissolves in chaos, then dramatically re-emerges stated by the horns in a slow, powerful swell fueled by Black back on his drum kit. The tone, pulse and structure resemble the "Interlude" section on Miles' 1975 release "Agharta." As the name implies, "East Europe Rundown," reflects Speed's fascination with Eastern European music as well as his participation on Zorn's "Bar Kokhba," and is in the vein now being exploited so thoroughly by the East Coast klezmer-jazz combo Naftule's Dream. The hypnotic, undulating theme is propelled by a funky bass riff while Black surges, with Speed and Vu riding the wave. "East Europe Rundown" exemplifies the album as a whole in its beguiling simplicity
interwoven with intricate polyrhythms and intriguing improvised subthemes and tangents.
Every once in a while, a recording comes along that compels repeated listening with the reward that each encounter unearths another nugget. "Deviantics" has that potential.
- Michael J. Williams