ENGLISH SPEAKING READERS KINDLY SCROLL A BIT DOWN FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION OF THE REVIEW REPLACING ALL BAD PUNS IN SERBIAN WITH AWFUL PUNS IN ENGLISH

Jazz Nedeljom je zamišljen kao serija vinjeta koje će ići (možda ne?) svake Nedelje, nudeći preporuku u vidu jednog jazz albuma koji sam tog dana slušao. Ovo nema pretenziju da bude ni ultimativni prikaz neke klasične ploče niti otkrivanje nekog budućeg klasika, već zaista samo to, da se kažu reč-dve o albumu koji sam tog dana rado slušao. Ponekada će to biti stare, proverene klasične stvari, ponekada najnovije izdanje koje sam izvalio na Bandcampu, hoću reći, neće biti pravila. Kako i treba. Kako i mora.

Prvi veliki free jazz album 2024. godine izašao je već devetnaestog Januara i ako se po jutru dan poznaje, ovu ćemo godinu provesti leteći superluminalnim brzinama pravo u srce neke podivljale zvezde na ivici da se levelapuje u supernovu. McKain / Nadien / Radichel / Weeks – A Man’s Image je kaseta od stopedeset kopija furiozne svirke u kojoj skoro da nemate vremena da se zapitate je li ovo što slušate zaista romantično, kako sugerišu naslov prve i poslednje kompozicije, je li intenzivnio politizirano, militantno ili pre svega estetizovano, kako sugeriše naslov treće, ili je ovaj album sve to zajedno.

Naravno, zapazili ste ime Jamesa McKaina u ovoj postavi, kao i bubnjara Jamesa Paula Nadiena, dvojice free jazz superheroja istočne obale SAD koji su nam  u poslednjih nekoliko godina podarili pregršt izuzetnih free jazz i improv izdanja i ostavili nas da se nadamo da će nekako, u nekoj varijanti, ovi muzičari uspeti da preplivaju Atlantik i zabasaju i do naše nedođije da iskusimo malo vreline sa kratke distance. Dok se to ne desi, ostaje nam da slušamo ovakve albume i da se pitamo koliko ZAPRAVO snage i inspiracije ima u ovim ljudima?

McKainovu i Nadienovu biografiju smo već ispisali, više no jednom, pa skočite ovde i ovde da osvežite gradivo. Ovaj tenor saksofonista i bubnjar bi verovatno već i sami, bez ikakvih saradnika bili u stanju da naprave onoliko veličanstene buke koliko je ljudski organizam fabrički baždaren da podnese pre nego što počnu da mu otkazuju glavni sklopovi, ali na ovom albumu udarnu grupu dopunjavaju još dvojica vrsnih muzičara.

Jared Radichel je basista i kontrabasista iz Filadelfije o kome znam vrlo malo. Dostupni podaci nam kažu da je studirao ili studira džez bas na univerzitetu Temple u Filadelfiji a prošle je godine u skoro istoj postavi već imao kasetu urnebesnog free jazza Live at Century (sem što je tamo umesto Nadiena bubnjeve svirao još jedan McKainov stari saradnik, Kevin Murray), a 2021. godine opet u skoro istoj postavi i album The Running of the Bulls. Radichel je svirao i sa muzičarima kao što su Michael Foster, Joey Sullivan i Leo Suarez i kombinovao džez i improvizaciju sa elektronikom na nekim izdanjima.

No, na alt saksofonu je ovde jedan vrlo pedigrirani muzičar, kalifornijski maestro džeza Tom Weeks, koji je učio kod ljudi kao što su Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Frith, Zeena Parkins, Pauline Oliveros, Steve Adams, Richard Evans i Phil Wilson i ima master iz kompozicije sa koledža Mils u kaliforniji. Weeks je sarađivao sa ogromnim brojem jakih muzičara, od McKaina i Murrayja, preko Makota Kawabate, Alvina Currana, Nathana Cordera i Hansa Kocha do Williama Winanta i Henryja Kaisera. On ima i veliku diskografiju a trenutno svira i u više stalnih postava kao što su Nine Dog Dick, Toned i Ero Guro.

A Man’s Image je, inače, ime prodavnice muške odeće u Filadelfiji koja se, posle sedamdeset godina rada, zatvara krajem Marta ili u Aprilu ove godine. Mogu samo da pretpostavim da su McKain ili Radichel za nju vezani nekakvim lepim uspomenama pa da se zato album zove kako se zove.

Ali kad krene muzika, ovo ne zvuči ni trunku kao nostalgični lament za vremenima prošlim ili makar dostojanstveni rekvijem. A Man’s Image, ako bi trebalo da ga pobliže opišemo, je kao da ste stavili glavu u motor mlaznog aviona i tamo otkrili da su nas naučnici i inženjeri lagali sve ove godine i da unutra u stvari živi čitava civilizacija demona koji se tuku SVE VREME.

Već prva kompozicija, sedmominutna Romance (Pt. I) podsetila me je na ONU scenu iz prvog Crocodile Dundee filma. Ovaj kvartet kao da je pogledao ostatak džez produkcije u trećoj deceniji 21. veka i rekao svima „That’s no free jazz. THIS  is free jazz“ a onda udario po pedali za gas iz sve snage.

Romance (Pt. I) je urnebesna, neprirodno brza improvizacija u kojoj ritam-sekcija mora da radi tako brzo da se njihovi pokreti slepljuju u nerazaznatljivi bljesak metala, drveta, koža i ljudskih udova. Gorepomenuti Nathan Corder, koji je radio miks i mastering dao je sve od sebe da instrumentima obezbedi autonomi prostor i slobodnu teritoriju i separacija svakako postoji a dinamika je prirodna. Ali je ovo svejedno toliko urnebesno glasna i brza muzika da vam je potreban i određen trening da biste je isprocesovali.

Pogotovo su saksofonisti kao dva sijamska brata blizanca iz pakla, koji jedan drugom ne moraju da čitaju misli jer ionako dele isti mozak. Uzvitlana krešenda, uletanja u prodorna preduvavanja i vraćanje niz skale daju ovoj muzici kvalitet urnebesne vožnje toboganom na kojoj su svi bezbednosni protokoli ignorisani, a koja i pored svoje drske agresivnosti uvek ima džezerski gruv.

Druga kompozicija, Jared’s Ladder je duža, ali sa svojih petnaest minuta ne zaista „tiša“. Radichel je predvodi uvodom na kontrabasu a Nadien lako hvata njegov ritam meditacije, ali čim se saksofonisti umešaju počinje urnebes. Ipak, ovo su muzičari koji razumeju da bi gledanje u cev laserskog topa pedeset minuta bez prestanka bilo ne nepodnošljivo – ipak smo svi mi ovde frikovi i bolesnici – ali malo monotono i recimo da ova kompozicija uspeva da zazvuči kao bluz poguran na najdalju tačku pred pucanje na molekularnom nivou.

The Aesthete, The Militant and the Politican, čiji naslov zvuči kao McKainova biografija u sedam reči, je još jedan spretno plasiran uvid da svirka sve vreme svom snagom uvek rizikuje da postane dosadna, pa je ovo skoro šest minuta taktike toplo-hladno u kojoj Nadien ostatku ansambla zadaje sitne zagonetke na koje ovi odgovaraju kolektivnim vrištanjem. Ova kompozicija pokazuje da i album bez ijedne jedine teme i sa vrlo malo momenata nečeg što biste nazvali „melodijom“ može da bude ubedljivo strukturiran i dinamičan kao i bilo koja druga džez ploča koju biste dohvatili sa moje police.

Philadeplhia Spleen je još jedna brza, abrazivna kompozicija koju predvodi neverovatan saksofonski baraž sa tako sigurnom, tako ubedljivom razmenom nota i vrisaka između Weeksa i McKaina da ritam sekcija mora da uključi dodatni pogon samo da bi održala korak.

Konačno, Romance (Pt. II) sa četrnaest minuta potpuno slobodne vožnje album dovodi do ivice senzornih kapaciteta živih bića, ostavljajući utisak da su sa ovom kompozicijom muzičari dali doslovno sve što su imali i da ćemo svi kolektivno sada jedno vreme moći da slušamo samo tišinu. Baš kako i treba da bude.

https://amansimage.bandcamp.com/album/a-mans-image

AND NOW FOR THE TRANSLATION

The first great free jazz album of 2024 has dropped on January 19th, and if its prophetic energy is anything to go by, we will spend this year flying at superluminal speeds right into the heart of some wild star on the verge of levelling up into a supernova. McKain / Nadien / Radichel / Weeks – A Man’s Image is a cassette made in one hundred and fifty copies of such furious playing that you barely have time to ask yourself whether what you are listening to is really romantic, as the titles of the first and last compositions suggest, whether it is intensely politicized, militant or primarily aestheticized, as the title of the third suggests, or is this album all that smashed into one solid whole.

Of course, you’ll notice James McKain’s name in this line-up, as well that of the drummer James Paul Nadien, two free jazz superheroes from the East Coast who have blessed us with a bunch of exceptional free jazz and improv releases over the past few years and left us hoping that somehow, some time, these will musicians manage to swim across the Atlantic and come to our turf so we can experience their scorching heat from an unsafe distance. Until that happens, we are left to listen to albums like this and wonder how much strength and inspiration there REALLY is in these people?

We’ve already discussed McKain’s and Nadien’s biographies, more than once, so kindly click here and here to refresh your memory. This tenor saxophonist and drummer would probably be able to make as much glorious noise as the human body is designed to withstand on their own, without any collaborators, but on this album the hit squad is completed by two other excellent musicians.

Jared Radichel is a bassist and double bassist from Philadelphia that I know very little about. The available information tells us that he studied or is studying jazz bass at Temple University in Philadelphia, and last year he already had a cassette featuring some outrageous free jazz, entitled Live at Century and boasting almost the same line-up (except that instead of Nadie, another of McKain’s old collaborators, Kevin Murray, played drums therein), and in 2021, again in almost the same line-up, the album The Running of the Bulls. Radichel has also played with musicians such as Michael Foster, Joey Sullivan and Leo Suarez and combined jazz and improvisation with electronica on some releases.

But then on alto sax we have a pretty famous name, Californian jazz maestro Tom Weeks, who has studied with the likes of Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Frith, Zeena Parkins, Pauline Oliveros, Steve Adams, Richard Evans and Phil Wilson and holds an MA in in composition from Mills College in California. Weeks has collaborated with a huge number of awesome musicians, from McKain and Murray, through Makoto Kawabata, Alvin Curran, Nathan Corder and Hans Koch to William Winant and Henry Kaiser. He also has a large discography and currently plays in several permanent bands such as Nine Dog Dick, Toned and Ero Guro.

A Man’s Image, by the way, is the name of a men’s clothing store in Philadelphia that, after seventy years of operation, is closing at the end of March or in April of this year. I can only assume that McKain or Radichel have some kind of fond memories of the store, and that’s how the album got its title.

But when the music starts, it doesn’t sound at all like a nostalgic lament for times gone by or even a dignified requiem. A Man’s Image, if we had to describe it in more detail, is like putting your head in the engine of a jet plane and discovering that scientists and engineers have been lying to us all these years and that there is actually a whole civilization of demons living inside that are fighting ALL THE TIME.

Already the first composition, the seven-minute Romance (Pt. I) reminded me of THAT scene from the first Crocodile Dundee movie. This quartet seems to have looked at the rest of jazz production in the third decade of the 21st century, told everyone “That’s no free jazz. THIS is free jazz” and then hit the gas pedal with all their might.

Romance (Pt. I) is a outrageous, unnaturally fast improvisation in which the rhythm section has to work at such speed that their movements blur into an indiscernible flash of metal, wood, skins and human limbs. The above-mentioned Nathan Corder, responsible for mixing and mastering, did his best to provide the instruments with autonomous space and free territory, and the separation certainly exists and the dynamics are natural. But this is still such hilariously loud and fast music that you need some training to process it.

Saxophonists in particular are like two Siamese twin brothers from hell, who don’t need to read each other’s minds because they share the same brain anyway. Swirling crescendos, bursts of laser-like overblowing and then backing down the scale give this music the quality of a hilarious roller coaster ride where all safety protocols are ignored, and which despite its brazen aggressiveness always has a jazzy groove.

The second composition, Jared’s Ladder, is longer, but despite its fifteen minutes in lenght, not really “quieter”. Radichel leads with an introduction on the double bass, and Nadien gently catches his meditative rhythm, but as soon as the saxophonists join, the shenanigans begin. However, these are musicians who understand that staring into the barrel of a laser cannon for fifty minutes straight would be not unbearable – after all, we’re all freaks and sickos here – but it COULD turn a bit monotonous and let’s just say that this composition manages to sound like blues pushed to the farthest point before the cracks at molecular level start to show.

The Aesthete, The Militant and the Politician, the title of which sounds like McCain’s biography carved in mere seven words, is another deftly placed realization that blasting at full power all the time always runs the risk of boredom, so this is almost six minutes of hot-cold torture tactics with Nadien creating tiny riddles to the rest of the ensemble, and their answer being collective screaming. This composition shows that an album without a single theme and with very few moments of what you’d call “melody” can be as convincingly structured and dynamic as any other jazz record you’d randomly pull off my shelf.

Philadeplhia Spleen is another fast, abrasive composition led by an incredible sax barrage with such assured, such convincing exchange of notes and screams between Weeks and McCain that the rhythm section has to punch the afterburners just to barely keep up.

Finally, Romance (Pt. II) with fourteen minutes of completely free flying brings the album to the edge of sensory capacities of living beings, leaving the impression that with this composition the musicians gave literally everything they had and, yes, that all of us will for a while only be able to listen to silence. Just as it should be.