[Trombone-l] My New CD - "Similar in the Opposite Way"

[Jeff Albert]

I am pleased to announce that my new CD, "Similar in the Opposite Way," is
officially released today.  The quartet will perform at Snug Harbor, in New
Orleans, on Thursday (1/29) in celebration of this fact.  This link:
http://jeffalbert.com/?p=177 will take you to the page on my website where
you can read about it, and listen to samples, as well as order it.  I think
my website or the label site (www.forasound.com) probably have the best
prices on physical product, and I definitely get the largest cut of it that
way.  It is also available in physical version from CD Baby or Amazon, and
in digital version from iTunes, CD Baby and Amazon.  I'll paste direct links
below this, and above the write up.

Thanks for listening, and purchasing (if you do so.)

Peace,
Jeff

http://cdbaby.com/cd/jeffalbert2
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J8AB38/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1230331565&sr=8-4
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=292294922&id=292294847&s=143441(iTunes
direct link)


*New Orleans trombonist Jeff Albert releases Similar in the Opposite Way, a
high-spirited and experimental quartet exploration*

In conjunction with Fora Sound records, New Orleans-based trombonist and
composer Jeff Albert is thrilled to announce the high-energy new release
from his quartet.  The ten tracks on offer thrust New Orleans back toward
the genre-busting sounds so firmly associated with its proud heritage as
Albert and company explore and reconstruct the boundaries between
improvisation and composition.

When we think of New Orleans and the music emanating from that great city,
the term "experimental" does not leap immediately to mind.  Albert and his
quartet will change all that.  Albert grew up in the tradition, as it were.
  "I was a real J.J. Johnson fan, and for me, it was hard-core bebop for a
while."  He also considers himself fortunate to perform with some of the
artists that defined New Orleans' classic funk and Rhythm and Blues sounds.
  His appearance on recordings such as Deacon John's Jump Blues (alongside
Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, and Wardell Quezergue), not to mention his work
with George Porter and Gatemouth Brown, have given him invaluable insight
into his city's rich heritage.  He maintains that his music demonstrates a
strong allegiance to his home town, no matter how far out it may seem.

His musical vision expanded incrementally until the autumn of 2004, when his
head was turned around at a Steve Swell Fire into Music performance.  Similar
in instrumentation if not in execution, the group afforded Albert a moment
of evolution.  Seeing the direction in which his music now lay, he formed
the Jeff Albert quartet, recording the group's debut album, One, within
eight weeks of the Swell concert. The quartet currently features saxophonist
Ray Moore, drummer Dave Cappello and bassist Tommy Sciple.  These events
also proved to be the impetus for Open Ears Music, a Tuesday night concert
series, founded by Albert, that hosts like-minded musicians from around the
world.  Albert claims influence from the Hungry Brain series in Chicago,
whose aims and methods are similar.

Albert's connection to Chicago goes far beyond emulation.  After Katrina, he
phoned up long-time friend Jeb Bishop, and the two of them agreed that
Albert should come up and that they should form a group that joined New
Orleans and Chicago forces.  The Lucky 7s resulted, their first disc
released in 2006 to great acclaim and a second on the way in 2009.

Similar in the Opposite Way brings what Albert labels the New
Orleans/Chicago continuum into sharp focus.  Albert insists that New Orleans
is represented by the groove, and his assertion is born out by the funky
slam of a track like "Bag Full of Poboys."  Cappello kicks it into action,
Albert, Moore and Sciple digging into the slinkily catchy head with tasty
slides and occasional vibrato associated with such New Orleans veterans as
Johnny Dodds and Kid Ory.  Playing just around the beat, relaxed but
swinging with high energy, there is nevertheless a certain coolness and
reserve that invokes Ken Vandermark's projects, or the various Chicago
Underground groups in their more introspective moments.  At the melody's
conclusion, dissonance takes over, Albert's composition entering Vandermark
5 territory, but by the time the solos begin, overt reference takes a back
seat.  Each soloist brings years of experience to bear on a compositional
language in which innovation and tradition coexist without the need for
obvious cross-reference.

"Poboys" might be seen as a blueprint for the album, which is a showcase for
Albert's varied compositional vision.  There's no denying the deep swing of
the title track as it conjures reminiscences of "Miles' Mode."  Yet, the
dual soloing of Albert and Moore often invokes Stravinskian counterpoint
over the solid groove laid down by Sciple and Cappello, the latter jumping
on the neoclassical bandwagon with a few well-timed excursions into march
rhetoric.  Stravinsky rears his head more obviously on the brief and
rhythmically amorphous "Chalk and Chocolate."  "I was just Looking for my
Pants" runs the gamut from polyrhythmic cross-talk to sparse pointilisms and
long-drawn ghost-tones, traversing style with jump-cut precision and humor.
  Then, there are the gorgeous chamber-jazz musings of "Subtle Flower," it's
head almost a chant-like reverie of unisons in a style that Albert likens to
a sort of ballad.  Particularly effecting is when Sciple and Moore double
the melody in octaves as Albert intertwines contrapuntal passages of
exquisite intricacy, eschewing the normal group/soloist hierarchy in favor
of a more collective feel.  Harmony is never overt, but implications abound,
enhanced by Albert and Moore's warmth of tone and varied articulation.

Despite the strikingly cosmopolitan nature of these compositions, Albert
insists that he designed them for the players.  "I wanted to provide
settings to stimulate improvisations with the goal of maintaining musical
interest and diversity over the course of a performance."  This he has done,
as each piece conjures a world of expression and dynamism.  It's the
musicians that make this music work, as they were integral to its
conception.  The symbiotic relationship between composer and group, both
informed by multiple geographical and musical influences, is the reason the
album's title is so appropriate.  The Jeff Albert Quartet has fashioned a
mature artistic statement that embraces tradition without ever being
enslaved to it.


-- 
===========================
Jeff Albert
(985) 966-6093

www.jeffalbert.com
www.scratchmybrain.com
www.openearsmusic.org