| Target or Flag | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by The Vandermark 5 | ||||
| Released | 1998 | |||
| Recorded | October 25 & 26, 1997 | |||
| Studio | Airwave, Chicago | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 65:30 | |||
| Label | Atavistic | |||
| Ken Vandermark chronology | ||||
| ||||
Target or Flag is an album by the American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, recorded in 1997 and released on Atavistic. It was the second recording of the Vandermark 5, which includes Mars Williams on reeds, Jeb Bishop on trombone and guitar, Kent Kessler on bass and Tim Mulvenna on drums.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| DownBeat |  [2] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [3] |
In his review for AllMusic, Jason Ankeny states: "Vandermark possesses both a vast sonic range and impressive tonal strength, and backed by ace Chicago area players like Mars Williams and Kent Kessler, his most innovative ideas are executed to their fullest." [1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz notes that some dedications "betray his affection for the urbane precision of prime West Coast jazz, and his own pieces make the point of following some of the precepts (counterpoint, tonal contrast) which that school lived by." [3]
The DownBeat review by Aaron Cohen states that "Vandermark knows the value of a working band, and the unit on this dics is the most cohesive that he's led... Target or Flag shows that while Vandermark's saxophone aerodynamics brought him an audience initially, it's his writing and bandleading skills that will build his lasting impact." [2]
Target or Flag won the Cadence Magazine Readers' Poll as the best album of 1998. [4]
Ken Vandermark is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.
Jeb Bishop is an American jazz trombone player.
Kent Kessler is an American jazz double-bassist.
NRG Ensemble was an American free jazz ensemble founded in the late 1970s by saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell.
Constructive Destruction is an album by the Flying Luttenbachers. It was released in 1994 by ugEXPLODE.
Okka Disk is an independent American jazz record company and label founded in Chicago by Bruno Johnson in 1994.
Calling All Mothers is an album by American jazz group the NRG Ensemble, their first after the death of bandleader, and multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell, which was recorded in 1993 and released on the Quinnah label.
Solid Action is an album by the American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, recorded in 1994 and released on Platypus. It was the second record by the Vandermark Quartet, which includes bassist Kent Kessler, drummer Michael Zerang and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Scanlan replacing former guitarist Todd Colburn.
Standards is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in 1994 and released on the Quinnah label.
Utility Hitter is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in 1995 and released on the Quinnah label. He leads the Barrage Double Trio, composed of one bass-drums-reeds trio from Boston and other from Chicago. The whole band plays six Vandermark compositions, the remaining five tracks are short improvisations: one for each of the trios and three duos.
Blow Horn is an album by FJF, a quartet formed by Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and American reedist Ken Vandermark with the Chicago's NRG Ensemble rhythm section of bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Steve Hunt. It was recorded in 1995 and released on Okka Disk.
Real Time is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was released in 1997 on Eighth Day Music and reissued in 2000 with new artwork by Atavistic. He leads the quartet Steam with pianist Jim Baker, bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Tim Mulvenna. The band was formed in part to dip into the repertoire of the post-changes jazz tradition, playing live covers of tunes by Anthony Braxton, Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy. On their debut, the group chose exclusively to deal with its own pieces: six by Vandermark and three by Baker.
Single Piece Flow is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in 1996 and released on Atavistic. It was the debut of the Vandermark 5, which features Mars Williams on reeds, Jeb Bishop on trombone and guitar, Kent Kessler on bass and Tim Mulvenna on drums.
Straight Lines is an album by the American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, recorded in 1998 and released on Atavistic. The Joe Harriott Project, a pianoless quartet with four members of the Vandermark 5, plays the music of the Jamaican saxophonist Joe Harriott, transcribed and arranged by Vandermark. Three tunes are from the album Free Form and four from Abstract.
Simpatico is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in 1998 and released on Atavistic. It was the third recording of the Vandermark 5, the first with Dave Rempis replacing former saxophonist Mars Williams.
Design in Time is an album by American jazz reedist Ken Vandermark, which was recorded in 1999 and released on Delmark. It was the debut recording by the Sound in Action Trio, which features two drummers: former Sun Ra percussionist Robert Barry and frequent Vandermark collaborator Tim Mulvenna. Most of the tunes are classics written by Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, Sun Ra, Don Cherry and Albert Ayler.
This Is My House is an album by American jazz group the NRG Ensemble, their second with saxophonist Ken Vandermark in place of the bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell, which was recorded in 1995 and released on Delmark.
Stone/Water is a live album by the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, led by saxophonist Brötzmann, and featuring an ten-piece ensemble. Documenting a performance of a single 39-minute work, it was recorded on May 23, 1999, at the Festival de Musique de Actuelle Victoriaville in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada, and was released on CD in 2000 by Okka Disk. On the album, Brötzmann is joined by saxophonists Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark, trumpeter and electronic musician Toshinori Kondo, trombonist Jeb Bishop, violinist and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, double bassists Kent Kessler and William Parker, and percussionists Hamid Drake and Michael Zerang.
The Chicago Octet/Tentet is a live album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann on which he is joined by two large ensembles known as the Chicago Octet and Tentet. Six tracks were recorded live at The Empty Bottle in Chicago on January 29, 1997, and September 17, 1997, while the remaining six tracks were recorded at AirWave Studio in Chicago on September 16, 1997. The album was released in 1998 as a limited-edition three-CD set by the Okka Disk label, and, in addition to Brötzmann, features saxophonists Mats Gustafsson, Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, and Mars Williams, trombonist Jeb Bishop, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, double bassist Kent Kessler, and drummers Hamid Drake and Michael Zerang.
3 Nights in Oslo is a five-disc live box set album by the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet + 1, led by saxophonist Brötzmann, and featuring an eleven-piece ensemble. It was recorded during February 19–21, 2009, at Victoria, Nasjonal Jazzscene in Oslo, Norway, and was released on CD in 2010 by the Norwegian Smalltown Superjazzz label. On the album, Brötzmann is joined by saxophonists Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark, trumpeter and saxophonist Joe McPhee, trombonists Jeb Bishop and Johannes Bauer, tubist Per Åke Holmlander, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, double bassist Kent Kessler, and drummers Paal Nilssen-Love and Michael Zerang. The entire ensemble is heard on discs 1 and 5, while the remaining discs feature duo, trio, and quartet combinations.
