Bassist Mark Dresser has always made music at once serious,
compelling, and playful, prioritizing creativity while addressing larger
questions of the day. So it is with Ain't Nothing But a Cyber Coup & You
(May 10, 2019, Clean Feed), the sophomore release by the Mark Dresser Seven, a
worthy follow-up to the ensemble's highly acclaimed 2016 Clean Feed debut Sedimental
You.
Ain't Nothing But a Cyber Coup & You showcases new music
and improvisations by the seven-piece band that "has the punch of a small
group and the detail of an orchestra" (Kevin LeGendre, Jazzwise). Dresser
and flutist Nicole Mitchell, multi-reed player Marty Ehrlich, trombonist
Michael Dessen, pianist Joshua White, drummer Jim Black, and new addition Keir
GoGwilt on violin explore multiple jazz traditions in six new compositions that
include pieces for fallen friends and irreverent political commentary, as well
as some with purely musical agendas. Between the composed works are brief solo
bass interludes improvised on the McLagan Tines, a set of seven graduated steel
rods invented by luthier Kent McLagan.
"Black Arthur's Bounce," dedicated to the alto
saxophone giant Arthur Blythe, opens the album and features Marty Ehrlich who
(along with Dresser) played with Blythe. In the tradition of Charles Mingus,
both the title tune, "Ain't Nothing But A Cyber Coup & You" and
"Let Them Eat Paper Towels" (the latter initially inspired by the
headline of a Paul Krugman column written in response to President Trump's
post-Hurricane Maria visit to Puerto Rico), engage with what Dresser describes
as our current "reality-horror-show of corruption, malice, xenophobia and
class warfare." In contrast, the parametric waltz "Gloaming"
uses multiple levels of polyrhythm which expand and contract within shifting
meters of lyricism, while "Butch's Balm" pays tribute to Dresser's
dear friend, the late pianist and teacher Butch Lacy. "Embodied in
Seoul," first conceived for the 2018 telematic concert Interconnections
For Peace between ensembles in New York City, San Diego, and Seoul, is
reworked into a smaller, tighter version stemming from a
single melody and culminating with the convergence of the entire ensemble in a
harmolodic whole.
With Ain't Nothing But a Cyber Coup & You, Mark Dresser
continues to prove himself "a giant of the avant-garde jazz scene"
(Felipe Freitas, Jazz Trail), exploring new ideas in jazz through vibrant
compositions and celebrating the solo power of this ensemble of virtuoso
improvisers. The final result is magnificent, as you would expect from this
pathfinder.
Mark Dresser is a Grammy nominated, internationally renowned
bass player, composer, and interdisciplinary collaborator. He has recorded over
one hundred forty CDs including nine CDs as composer/bandleader, three solo
CDs, one solo LP and a DVD. From 1985 to 1994, he was a member of Anthony
Braxton's Quartet, which recorded nine CDs and was the subject of Graham
Locke's book Forces in Motion (Da Capo). He has also performed and recorded
with Ray Anderson, Jane Ira Bloom, Tim Berne, Anthony Davis, Dave Douglas,
Osvaldo Golijov, Gerry Hemingway, Bob Ostertag, Joe Lovano, Roger Reynolds,
Henry Threadgill, Dawn Upshaw, John Zorn. Since 2007 he has been deeply
involved in "telematic music performance," which explores the
musical, technical, and social dimensions of live performance between multiple
geographical locations through high speed Internet. He was a co-coordinator,
composer and performer of Deep Tones for Peace, a 2009 performance including
thirteen internationally renowned bassists collaborating live between Jerusalem
and New York City. He also collaborated with other renowned improvisers in
three different cities and spread across the West Coast, East Coast and Europe
on The Virtual Tour: A Reduced-Carbon Footprint Concert Series. He was awarded
a 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award as well as 2015 and 2018 Shifting Foundation
Award. He is Professor of Music at University of California, San Diego.
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