JD Allen - The Matador and The Bull - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Time was when the use of any electronically-generated effects in an artist's work, would immediately brand you as a member of the avant-garde. Eventually, however, jazz embraced the modernism of electronics as people like Rashaan Roland Kirk, John Zorn and classical composers like Edgard Varèse took electronics down a less self-destructive and more communicative road. On THIS, tenor saxophonist and composer JD Allen explores the possibilities of electronics+jazz with a set of new compositions for himself, drummer Gwilym Jones and electronics effects wizard Alex Bonney. These works exhibit an astonishingly wide spectrum where you may find modal, blues-infused melodies juxtaposed against startling and provocative electronic effects. There can be a slim line in jazz between being a traditionalist troglodyte and being a radical visionary. On his latest recording, JD Allen has demonstrated that there is a musically satisfying and emotionally fulfilling middle ground.

2019 . JD Allen's eighth recording for Savant Records finds the wildly inventive saxophonist returning to the sax-bass-drums playing with his usual sizzling intensity and unveiling new works which challenge preconceptions while engaging the listeners rather than alienating them. His colleagues, Ian Kenselaar and Nic Cacioppo are with him every step of the way, reveling in the exploratory compositions of their leader and rising to the challenges they bring. JD Allen was hailed by New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff as, Incha tenor saxophonist with an enigmatic, elegant and hard-driving style,Inch He has be the winner of Downbeat, JazzTimes & NPR polls in categories including NPR's Best Jazz of the Year, Tenor Saxophonist of the Year, Composer of the Year and Rising Star of the Year.

Of JD Allen, Giovanni Russonello in The New York Times said, InchMr. Allen has become one of today's most exciting tenor saxophonists not by trying to spotlight his own virtuosity... but by defining a new way of playing in a group.Inch Allen's current , InchToys / Die Dreaming,Inch is his 14th as a leader and builds on his already rich recorded legacy. His compositions exhibit his philosophy of providing short melodies as the basis of both solo and group improvisation; InchGet in and get out,Inch as Allen likes to say. This gives his music a remarkable ever-transforming feel, as if the improvisation was actually part of the composition itself. To bring his music to life, Allen requires players of the utmost talent and creativity and he has certainly found them in bassist, Ian Kenselaar and drummer, Nic Cacioppo. InchI found the bad boys of this generation, as far as I'm concerned,Inch says Allen, Inchguys who are not afraid to dip their toe in the avant-garde a little bit, and then turn around and play the tradition.Inch But tradition to Allen is a development, an unending arc of creativity which begins at the dawn of jazz and to which he is the latest contributor to the music's evolution.