| The Tone of Wonder | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Live album by | |
| Released | 2014 |
| Recorded | May 17, 2013 |
| Venue | Lo Spazio, Poschiavo, Switzerland |
| Genre | Free jazz |
| Label | Uncool Edition #2 |
| Producer | Cornelia Müller |
The Tone of Wonder is a live solo album by bassist/violinist Henry Grimes. It was recorded in May 2013 in Poschiavo, Switzerland, and was released by Uncool Edition in 2014. [1]
In a review for London Jazz News, Geoff Winston wrote: "The Tone of Wonder is an extraordinary album. Totally absorbing, full immersion in these solo explorations... is the best way to appreciate its range, depth and inherent beauty. This studio recital... is recorded with great sensitivity and fidelity, so much so that it is one of the few occasions... when listeners can believe that the musician is in the room with them... what is it we are hearing? It's really Henry Grimes telling you everything he knows about music; it comes out of his love of music and his love of the instruments... It is a performance of pure honesty, as close as you'll get to the creative wellspring, that makes The Tone of Wonder such a unique and special album." [2]
Writing for Jazz Views, Peter Urpeth commented: "Much time is spent on bowed bass, when the laminar flow of lines creates an almost etude-like structure, reminiscent in part of Bach or Britten's solo cello suites, rich with myriad fragments of melody, brief rhythmic inventions, and creating a real sense of counterpoint and ensemble playing. There is a kind of immensity about the entire project, from its improvisations to its high quality recording that is almost overwhelming in its delivery... Ideas emerge and are explored before being set aside and new departures opened. The gems, of which there are many in these improvisations, are left for the listener to stumble upon, to unearth in their hiding places, perhaps in the same paradigmatic many as their creator - who both makes and finds in the same moment. Such is the truly great improvisor's art... Tone of Wonder as a title says it all. This CD is a fitting testimony to the work of one jazz music's truly great musicians." [3]
Free jazz or Free Form in the early- to mid-1970s is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during this period believed that the bebop and modal jazz that had been played before them was too limiting, and became preoccupied with creating something new. The term "free jazz" was drawn from the 1960 Ornette Coleman recording Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. Europeans tend to favor the term "free improvisation". Others have used "modern jazz", "creative music", and "art music".
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.
Henry Grimes was an American jazz double bassist and violinist.
Out to Lunch! is a 1964 album by jazz multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy. His only recording on Blue Note as a leader, it was issued as BLP 4163 and BST 84163. Featuring Dolphy in a quintet with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Tony Williams, it was generally considered by critics as one of the finest albums issued on Blue Note, and widely viewed as one of the high points of 1960s avant-garde jazz. The album cover designed by Reid Miles features a photo of a "Will Be Back" sign displayed in a shop window showing a seven handed clock.
David Sancious is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on Human Touch (1992), Tracks (1998), and Western Stars (2019). Sancious is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known as a keyboard player and guitarist. He left the E Street Band in 1974 to form his own band, Tone, and released several albums. He subsequently became a popular session and touring musician, most notably for Stanley Clarke, Narada Michael Walden, Zucchero Fornaciari, Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Jack Bruce, and Sting among many others. In 2014, Sancious was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band.
Ascension is a jazz album by John Coltrane recorded in June 1965 and released in 1966. It is considered a watershed in Coltrane's work, with the albums recorded before it being more conventional in structure and the albums recorded after it being looser, free jazz inspired works. In addition, it signaled Coltrane's interest in moving away from the quartet format. AllMusic called it "the single recording that placed John Coltrane firmly into the avant-garde".
Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts in a performance of jazz music. It is one of the defining elements of jazz. Improvisation is composing on the spot, when a singer or instrumentalist invents melodies and lines over a chord progression played by rhythm section instruments and accompanied by drums. Although blues, rock, and other genres use improvisation, it is done over relatively simple chord progressions which often remain in one key.
Geoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano saxophone and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.
Complete Communion is a 1966 album by American jazz composer Don Cherry, his debut as a bandleader and his first release on Blue Note Records.
Symphony for Improvisers is an album by American jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, released by Blue Note Records in August 1967. It features Gato Barbieri, Henry Grimes, and Ed Blackwell, all of whom appeared on Cherry's previous album Complete Communion, along with Karl Berger, Jean-François Jenny-Clark, and Pharoah Sanders. Symphony for Improvisers was recorded in 1966. The front cover photograph was taken at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Upper West Side, New York City.
Paul David Harbour is an American bass guitar and guitar player, pianist and composer. He is recognised for his work with David T. Chastain, Michael Harris and Tony MacAlpine. He has played in the bands "Leather", "Chastain" and "King Diamond". He teaches bass guitar, guitar and piano.
Spirits Rejoice is a live album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded in New York City in 1965 and first released on the ESP-Disk label. The recording session took place without an audience at Judson Hall, which had been rented solely for recording purposes.
Solo [3] is a solo album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell which was recorded in 2003 and released on Mutable Music as a three CD set.
Trilogy 2 is a live album by Chick Corea with Christian McBride and Brian Blade. It was first released in 2018 in Japan on the Universal Music label, and in 2019 by Concord Records. The album is a follow-up to Trilogy, which was issued in 2013.
Oluyemi Thomas is a free jazz bass clarinetist and saxophonist.
Solo is a two-CD solo album by bassist/violinist Henry Grimes. It was recorded in March 2008 in Brooklyn, New York, and was released by Ilk Music in 2009.
Spirits Aloft is a live album by bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Rashied Ali. It was recorded in February 2009 at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, and was released by Porter Records in 2010.
Azure is an album by bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marilyn Crispell. It was recorded at Nevessa Production in Saugerties, New York in January and February 2011, and was released on ECM in 2013.
Fizzles is a live solo bass album by Barry Guy. It was recorded in September 1991 at Kirche Blumenstein in Switzerland, and was released in 1993 by Maya Recordings.
In Backward Times is a live album by trombonist Paul Rutherford. Drawn from archival tapes, it was recorded in 1979, 1988, 2004, and 2007, in Milano, London, and Brussels, and was released in 2017 by Emanem Records. On track 1, Rutherford is accompanied by live electronics, while track 2 is a duet with bassist Paul Rogers. Track 3 is a solo performance, and track 4 is a trio setting featuring cellist Marcio Mattos and pianist Veryan Weston. The final track was recorded roughly three months before Rutherford's death, and documents his last public performance.