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 February 15, 2007 Songlines Recordings I’ve been reading audiophile magazines for close to 15 years, and writing for a couple of them since 2000, but I’m still surprised at the number of people who bravely start record companies in order to bring sonically accurate recordings to other music lovers. I’ve recently written in this space about three labels: Red House Records, Chesky Records, and Cryptogramphone. Each reflects the musical and sonic commitment of one person, and that person’s willingness to take chances with music the major labels often ignore. The Vancouver-based label Songlines Recordings began in 1990 when its founder, Tony Reif, decided to try to expose musicians from that city to a wider audience. Reif soon realized that he could more effectively achieve his goal if Songlines were not merely a regional label. Its catalog now includes work in a wide variety of jazz and world-music styles by musicians from the US, Canada, and Europe. Its best-known releases, not surprisingly, are Bill Frisell’s Richter 858 and Dave Douglas’ The Tiny Bell Trio. As Reif told me in an e-mail, "I began working with Dave Douglas after Brad Shepik, whose collective group Babkas had already put their first CD out on Songlines, became a member of his Tiny Bell Trio, along with Jim Black (another young ex-Seattle musician). Dave approached me to see whether I’d be interested in recording the group. "As for the Bill Frisell Richter 858 project," Reif continued, "that had already been recorded by producer David Breskin for a limited-edition art book about these eight [painter Gerhard] Richter works that Breskin had created. Nonesuch, Bill’s label, had passed on the project as being too avant-garde. I suggested we do an enhanced SACD (the recording was high-quality analog) with a CD-ROM slideshow of the Richter works, including lots of details of the paintings, so that a wider public could see how the music related to them." While some of the other Songlines artists may lack the immediate name recognition of Frisell and Douglas, their music is every bit as compelling and just as lovingly recorded. Reif is committed to the SACD format, and all Songlines titles are released on SACD or SACD/CD and contain both two-channel and multichannel tracks. "I can only hope that consumer demand increases or at least holds," Reif said. "If audiophiles support the format it will continue, at least for a while. Apart from LPs, there aren’t many practical alternatives at the moment. But SACDs are relatively inexpensive to master and manufacture, and easy to play. So I’m all for them. Unfortunately, the market isn’t really there to support avant-jazz as an audiophile genre! But I’d feel defeated if I had to go back to releasing only ‘Red Book’ stereo. It’s just so not as good."
The disc demands attentive listening. The compositions -- which reveal the influence of modernist European composers such as Bartók, Stravinsky, and Varèse -- are carefully composed and arranged, and it’s sometimes difficult, on first hearing them, to recognize when the improvised sections begin. Ron Miles solos on the title track, skillfully working his way through its unusual changes. "Berlin 1914" gives each of the musicians space to stretch out, and the results are a moving and exciting mixture of structured composition and improvisation. Horvitz uses electronics sparingly but to strong effect on "Between Here and Heaven" and "World Peace and Quiet," two emotional works that are also intellectually challenging.
Grdina’s warm tone draws the listener into his music, but it is soon apparent that, for all the accessibility of his compositions, Grdina is pushing the guitar into new areas. His oud playing informs his approach to the guitar, and the influence of Middle Eastern music gives his playing a welcome freshness. Peacock and Motian are both in their 70s, yet here they take risks that would intimidate jazz musicians a third their age. Particularly on the tracks featuring the oud, the bassist and drummer give foundation, color, and rhythm to Grdina’s unusual musical ideas. Motian’s brushwork is frequently stunning, but it’s almost unfair to single out anyone on Think Like the Waves, where intelligent and beautiful conversations take place among three equally articulate contributors.
I know Gary Versace’s work from his recordings with the brilliant jazz guitarist Sheryl Bailey, with whom Versace is a quick, resourceful accompanist and an innovative soloist. Shepik’s tunes let him venture into some new territory, and he rises to the challenge. Tom Rainey is a tasteful and swinging drummer who plays with wit, invention, and sensitivity to what the other musicians are doing -- his work throughout Places You Go is delightful and exceptionally musical. Brad Shepik is someone to watch. Of the young guitarists I’ve heard in the last few years, only Sheryl Bailey matches him in versatility and compositional skills. While Places You Go is extremely varied, it never seems scattershot and doesn’t overreach. Even with its shifts in style, it is consistently enjoyable.
The two-channel "Red Book" sound on these four discs is natural, each instrument clearly placed in the soundstage -- it’s the sound of musicians playing in a real room. The two-channel, hi-rez SACD tracks bring you a step closer, revealing nuances of the instruments that make the music even more immediate. The multichannel mixes put you among the performers. Tony Reif says that "Multichannel mixing is an art in itself. Often the musicians have never heard music that way before (or at least never done it before), but between them and the engineer and myself we decide what approach to take and what little surprises to throw in along the way. Sometimes none -- you just want to create as realistic an ambience for the music as possible, so that the listener can relax into the musical event, become part of the space the music is unfolding in. And that sort of immersion in itself can greatly enhance the listener’s sensory and emotional experience." The music released by Songlines Recordings reflects Tony Reif’s wide-ranging interests and his commitment to high-quality recording. While the label still succeeds at introducing music lovers to talented musicians from Vancouver and the Northwestern US, it has extended its reach beyond that region. Each release is beautifully packaged, very well recorded, and musically daring. …Joseph Taylor
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Pianist-composer Wayne Horvitz may be
a familiar name to some jazz fans. He has composed both jazz and classical pieces, and his
most recent Songlines release, Way Out East [SGL SA1558-2], employs techniques from
both disciplines. As Horvitz points out in his liner note, "I was searching for an
ensemble that could somehow bridge the gap between the through-composed chamber music I
have been focusing on for the last five years and my lifelong love of small group
improvisation." Horvitz plays piano and electronic effects on the disc and is joined
by his new improvising chamber ensemble, the Gravitas Quartet: bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck,
trumpeter Ron Miles, and cellist Peggy Lee.
Gordon Grdina, a jazz guitarist who
also plays the oud, is a student of jazz bassist Gary Peacock, who joins Grdina and
drummer Paul Motian on Think Like the Waves [SGL SA1559-2], an unusual and
satisfying combination of jazz and Arabic music. Grdina’s liner note explains his
choice of the two veteran musicians who accompany him: "I knew Gary was interested in
Arabic music and that Paul’s sound, textures, and use of space were all significantly
influenced by listening to Armenian folk music as a child." Sometimes Grdina inserts
a Middle Eastern scale in a more traditional jazz-guitar context, as in "Yellow Spot
Into the Sun" and "Platform." The compositions featuring the oud are
obviously more exotic, yet have a spontaneity and excitement that, along with the
musicians’ intuitive interplay, make them interesting twists on what one usually
expects from jazz.
Guitarist Brad Shepik has recorded a
number of discs for Songlines, including three as leader. His newest, Places You Go [SGL
SA1562-2], is an organ-trio session that stays clear of the soul jazz one usually
associates with such ensembles. Hammond B-3 player Gary Versace and drummer Tom Rainey are
alert accompanists who shift easily among Shepik’s diverse writing styles.
"Crossing" has a 1970s fusion vibe that the three players bring fresh ideas to,
avoiding the excess to which that music often fell prey. The next track, "Five and
Dime," is a beautiful ballad, Versace and Rainey subtly supporting Shepik’s
strongly felt melody line. In fact, Shepik has a great gift for melody, both as a soloist
and as a composer, and he never lets himself fall back on showiness or clichés.
Michael O’Neill’s Ontophony
[SGL SA2405-2] is perhaps the strangest of the Songlines discs I listened to. O’Neill
plays the highland bagpipes, and his group Mearingstone comprises three more pipers, all
named Andrew (Bonar, Douglas, and Hayes). O’Neill is also a percussionist, and on Ontophony
Mearingstone is joined by Uzume Taiko, a Vancouver-based Japanese percussion
trio, as well as assorted other percussionists. The album opens with the seven-part
Being and Doing, which O’Neill wrote for four bagpipes, tabla (played by
Neelamjit Dhillon), and cymbals. This suite takes up nearly half the disc; O’Neill
describes it in his liner note as "meditations on aspects of living and speculations
about death and beyond." Uzume Taiko joins O’Neill on "Jedaya" and
"Luffness"; for the latter, O’Neill expanded the highland pipes’
capabilities by extending their drone pipes with Plexiglas tubes. Your enjoyment of Ontophony
will probably depend on your tolerance for the bagpipes, but there’s no denying
that this is music by a unique and searching musician.