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Michael Dessen
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Warriors of the Wonderful Sound: Soundpath
by Mark Corroto
If we alter President John F. Kennedy's 1962 moon spaceflight speech just a bit, it easily fits the big band adaptation of Muhal Richard Abrams' magnum opus Soundpath, We choose to perform this composition not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept." Accepting the challenge was band leader Bobby Zankel and ...
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by Giuseppe Segala
Nel 2011 il sassofonista di Filadelfia Bobby Zankel, leader della big band The Warriors of the Wonderful Sound e promotore di laboratori di musica contemporanea, propose a Muhal Richard Abrams un lavoro compositivo che avrebbe dovuto essere affidato alla band, con la direzione dello stesso pianista. Operazioni di questo tipo erano già state realizzate da Zankel negli anni precedenti con le musiche per big band di Julius Hemphill, dirette da Marty Ehrlich, poi con composizioni di Rudresh Mahanthappa e Steve ...
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by Victor L. Schermer
Muhal Richard Abrams (1930-2017) was a revered pianist, composer and teacher of great capability and range who, in addition to his own achievements, inspired and influenced many jazz musicians in both the mainstream and avant-garde categories. Largely self-taught as a result of a personal decision to follow his own path, and early on pursuing church music, big band, blues, bebop and avant-garde jazz in his home city of jny: Chicago, he grasped music from its roots, and so was able ...
read moreMichael Dessen: Somewhere In The Upstream
by Giuseppe Segala
L'organico di trio con trombone, contrabbasso e batteria non è particolarmente diffuso, ma può annoverare tra gli esempi più significativi la lunga, formidabile esperienza di Bass Drum Bone, in cui Ray Anderson, Mark Helias e Gerry Hemingway hanno scandagliato modalità espressive e dialogiche ad ampio raggio. Il trio guidato dal trombonista e sperimentatore di suoni Michael Dessen si inserisce con profitto su quella traccia, vista la vitalità e la già discreta longevità, con il primo dei quattro CD pubblicati dall'etichetta ...
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by Glenn Astarita
Ace trombonist Michael Dessen is an imaginative technologist when incorporating artistically focused computer-generated sounds into his works as he once again disavows the tried and true with this all-star rhythm section. Complete with unorthodox flows and changeable rhythmic progressions, Dessen's zany and otherworldly live electronics permutations, along with some cosmic interference, offers an extra layer of excitement and curiousity. Essentially, the trio adds a phantasmagoric nuance to various movements throughout this program dedicated to the memory of jazz great, Yusef ...
read moreMichael Dessen Trio: Resonating Abstractions
by Robert Bush
Michael Dessen is a slide-trombone virtuoso and computer musician of the highest order, and the music his trio crafts on Resonating Abstractions showcases his work as a composer in compelling fashion. Key to this success are the contributions from singular double-bassist Chris Tordini and the multi-rhythmic drums of Dan Weiss. Together they realize and expand the structures of Dessen's vision, aided by the live-sampled or algorithmic electronics on roughly half the tracks. Grid After Grid," opens ...
read moreMichael Dessen Trio: Forget The Pixel
by Robert Bush
Trombonist Michael Dessen once studied with George Lewis, hung with Ray Anderson, and has ascended to their level on the creative improvising scene. Dessen has his own distinct style, one that values nuanced gestures as highly as it does exuberance; therefore his music creates a micro world of detail and organically developed themes. The music for this album was actualized over the course of a year of experimentation. Dessen's trio-mates live in NYC, and he would visit ...
read moreMichael Dessen Trio: "Forget the Pixel" Puts a Personal Stamp on New Jazz
Source:
Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards
Michael Dessen, trombonist-improviser-composer-bandleader. California based. Basic facts. His newest album Forget the Pixel (Clean Feed 222) brings his trombone, straight horn and electronically enhanced, into orbit with two excellent players: bassist Christopher Tordini, with a bold sound, a smart manipulation of composed motifs, a fluid ensemble presence and a soloist of Zen-like space arrangements. Then there's Dan Weiss, to my mind one of the luminous young drummers on the scene today. He doesn't glow in the dark, but his sense ...
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Michael Dessen Trio - Between Shadow and Space (Clean Feed, 2008) ****
Source:
All About Jazz
I have been checking how many trombone-bass-drums trios I know, and there aren't many, but that has probably says more about my knowledge than about their existence. Steve Swell has a few, so does Julian Priester, Jeb Bishop has one and there is of course BassDrumBone, with Ray Anderson, with several CDs. Now there is the Michael Dessen Trio, and one which can stand its ground in the list of the above bands. The trombonist has a great sense of ...
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