Present – “Le Poison Qui Rend Fou” (expanded 2CD)
The Ed Palermo Big Band – “Oh No! Not Jazz!”:
Long revered and celebrated for his insistently inventive jazz arrangements of Frank Zappa compositions, New Jersey saxophonist/composer/arranger Ed Palermo returns with his fourth album featuring his big band playing his jaw-dropping, brain-busting, and wildly antic charts. Slated for release on February 4, 2014, Oh No! Not Jazz!!, is the band’s third project for Cuneiform, but this time Palermo is offering his own jazz vision along side Zappa’s music. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition, with Palermo’s talent-laden 18-piece orchestra digging into his originals, which stand up effectively next to Zappa’s ingenious songbook.
Raoul Bjorkenheim – “eCsTaSy”:
One of the most creatively stunning guitarists/ composers/ improvisers on the planet, Raoul Bjorkenheim’s playing summons the transcendent power, spirit and fury of Jimi Hendrix and Sonny Sharrock to Finland’s distant shores. But the title of Raoul Bjorkenheim’s new album isn’t a boast or a brief manifesto. Rather, eCsTaSy is a simple description of the intense communion achieved by his extraordinary new ensemble. The project captures the Finnish-American musician at the peak of his powers, leading a virtuosic Finnish group featuring the brilliant saxophonist Pauli Lyytinen and the inventive rhythm section tandem of bassist Jori Huhtala and drummer Markku Ounaskari. eCsTaSy is Bjorkenheim’s fourth Cuneiform album, and the project opens the next chapter for an artist with a potent gift for leading improvisation-laced ensembles with a singular group sound.
Sonar – “Static Motion”:
To the uninitiated, minimalism may seem like an intimidating concept, but in reality it's just the embodiment of the common axiom "less is more." And in the case of SONAR, less happens to be a lot more, especially on their second album, Static Motion. You don't even realize how much extraneous material exists in most of the music you hear every day until you listen to something like Static Motion and get your senses realigned. By hewing to a cunningly crafted set of constrictions on this album of nine ultra-streamlined instrumentals, the Swiss quartet somehow manages to wring the maximum amount of music out of a minimalist agenda.
Thumbscrew – “Thumbscrew”:
The band’s name might conjure a fearsome image, but Thumbscrew makes inviting music full of wonder and discovery. A recently formed collective of improvisational masters, the trio features guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, who can often be found working together in an array of arresting settings, and bassist Michael Formanek, a creative catalyst on jazz’s adventurous frontiers for more than three decades. Thumbscrew’s eponymous debut album documents the group’s commitment to new music created specifically for the ensemble.
Present – “Triskaidekaphobie”:
Present – “Le Poison Qui Rend Fou”:
Founded in 1979, the Belgian band is widely acknowledged and celebrated as one of the leading lights of the Rock In Opposition (RIO) / avant-progressive / Chamber Rock scene, notable for producing genre-transcendent, non-commercial music outside (“in opposition to”) the mainstream music industry. Cuneiform Records, one of the leading and longtime international supporters of Rock in Opposition music, is now reissuing Present’s first two studio albums, 1980’s Triskaidekaphobie and 1985’s Le Poison Qui Rend Fou, as two separate CD releases, each accompanied by a wealth of bonus material. The new CD reissues feature each studio album plus bonus live material by Present, including previously unseen archive concert footage; and CD booklets featuring historical photographs, interviews, and in-depth biographies of the band’s early days written by historian Aymeric Leroy.
