THE VANDERMARK 5 Special Edition - The Horse Jumps and The Ship Is Gone (2-CD)

Vandermark 5 Special Edition
The Horse Jumps & The Ship Is Gone

Label: NotTwo, 2010
Catalogue No: MW 850-2
Format: 2-CD

Tracks:

Album 1
The Horse Jumps

1. Friction [12:15]
2. Some Not All [13:41]
3. New Weather [12:31]
4. Second Marker
5. Cadmium Orange [10:39]

Album 2
The Ship Is Gone

1. Green Mill Tilter [10:01]
2. Desireless [10:32]
3. Early Color [13:30]
4. Cement [12:14]
5. Nameless [15:17]

Line-up:

Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone & Bb clarinet
Tim Daisy - drums
Kent Kessler - bass
Fred Lonberg-Holm - cello
Dave Rempis - alto & baritone saxophone

with special quests:
Magnus Broo - trumpet
Havard Wiik - piano

Recorded:

Reviews:

This 2-CD's set documents an expanded Vandermark 5 at Chicago’s Green Mill club in June of 2009. The quintet is assisted by Scandinavian stalwarts Magnus Broo (trumpet) and Håvard Wiik (piano), both members of Atomic who previously worked with several members of the Chicago outfit. The album once again proves that the Vandermark catalogue for this band is an awe-inspiring work-in-progress. Using several songs from 'Annular Gift' (Not Two, 2009) as a foundation, leader Ken Vandermark augmented his compositions, rewriting passages and rethinking their structures to fit this seven-piece Special Edition. The result is a striking balance of tight interplay, free excursions and anything in between. The album includes recent compositions, returns to ‘A Discontinuous Line’ and ‘Beat Reader’ (with a marvellous version of “Friction”), contains one new composition (“Nameless”) and two pieces composed by the guests: Broo’s “New Weather” and Wiik’s “Green Mill Tilter”. ‘The Horse Jumps And The Ship Is Gone’ is another strong V5-release, that not only confirms Vandermark’s reputation as one of the hardest working men in the business, but also the band’s telepathic interplay and adventurous spirit. (Instantjazz Blog)

*****

In truth, this is a Vandermark 7 release, with the latest line-up of the band, with Ken Vandermark on tenor saxophone and Bb clarinet, Tim Daisy on drums, Kent Kessler on bass, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, and Dave Rempis on alto and baritone saxophone being joined by Magnus Broo on trumpet and Håvard Wiik on piano, the latter two known from their work with "Atomic". The album captures the band's performance at the Green Mill in Chicago in June of last year, and that "live" aspect makes the playing a little more relaxed and open, and offers more time for soloing than the usual tight playing of the Vandermark 5 on their studio releases, but the drive and energy level are of the same high level.  The song list reads like a "greatest hits" by the band, with "Friction" and "Desireless" coming from Beat Reader , "Some Not All" from Discontinuous Line, and not less then four compositions - "Second Marker", "Cadmium Orange", "Cement" and "Early Color" - come from Annular Gift.  Magnus Broo's "New Weather" also features on his new album "Swedish Wood", to be released soon. Håvard Wiik's "Green Mill Tilter" comes from Atomic's "Theater Tilters Vol. 1".  "Nameless", the closing track appears to be the only new composition. The selection of the pieces is also the right one, with the long and compelling themes, often with great boppish pulse, offering great improvisation space and possibilities for all musicians, with the reinforced horn section sounding more voluminous and powerful, and the piano adding a somewhat softer touch to the overall sound, like cream in coffee. The interaction between cello and bass works well in the live setting, as on the long intro to "Second Marker" or the cellist's piercing bowing in the grand finale of "Early Color". Lonberg-Holm's electronics is something of an acquired taste, but his use of it is relatively sparse and adds a kind of different flavor at times. Otherwise the music is incredibily exuberant, forceful, energetic, wild with the mastery of seven artists who know exactly what they do and how to do it. The sound is heavier than on the studio albums, and the transitions between the improvisations and the return to the theme sometimes less seamless, but all that adds to the overall warmth, fun and participation possibilities of the listener, in the sense that it all sound so much more real, so full of the force of life itself. And the playing itself, is so good, so good ...  (freejazz-stef.blogspot)

*****

With the 16th official release by The Vandermark 5, composer/director/leader Ken Vandermark invites two guest musicians to share the stage. Norwegian pianist Håvard Wiik and Swedish trumpeter Magnus Broo are, however, no strangers to projects by the reedman and company. That familiarity yields this solid June, 2009 live date at Chicago's Green Mill. Broo, an excellent inside/out player, can be heard in the European equivalent to the V5—Atomic—and in The Angles. Likewise, Wiik is a member of Atomic and Vandermark's chamber music project, Freefall, with bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. The V5-plus-two plays Vandermark 5 music, with the exception of one track from Broo, banking on the now patented Vandermark structured compositions that give way to plenty of soloing. The lineup of V5 with Fred Lonberg-Holm is no longer new, the cellist fitting nicely into the band's structure for several albums at this point. Heard here, this special edition draws music from three previous V5 records—Annular Gift (Not Two, 2009), Beat Reader (Atavistic, 2008), and the LP-only Four Sides to the Story (Not Two, 2006)—plus a new track, "Green Mill Tilter," which opens the second disc as a sort of Leonard Bernstein tribute, before swerving off the road into a Wiik piano solo that blends sounds from both Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor. Like any good Vandermark piece, the music is marked by organized horn sections and embellished soloing. The modernity of this work calls for standing back and absorbing the music as a whole, and inspect pieces and parts for their individual beauty. Indeed, Vandermark writes with simple beauty on "Early Color," with a delicacy and grace that opens up solos from Wiik, Lonberg-Holm, Broo, and drummer Tim Daisy. He also rocks the house with "Cement," which opens with Daisy's solo and then rolls like an over-the-road trucker with heavy beats and swinging solos from others in the expanded group. With the inclusion of Wiik and Broo, the Vandermark 5 never skips a beat and delivers a very solid effort. (Mark Corroto, AllAboutJazz)

*****

he Horse Jumps and The Ship Is Gone is The Vandermark 5's fifteenth album. For this outing Ken Vandermark takes the unique step of inviting two of his regular collaborators in his other projects, Magnus Broo (trumpet) and Havard Wiik (piano) (of the group Atomic) to sit in and it has some stunning results. The album features a number of tracks that appeared on the band previous two albums Annular Gift and Beat Reader. It is rare to hear Ken Vandermark in any of his groups, with a pianist, let alone his mainstay V5. The other groups being Free Fall and the supergroup Atomic-School Days actually also include Havard Wiik as well as the full Atomic group. The addition of the two Atomic member does add a bit more fire to the session. It seems Vandermark's material here is more challenging and each member has allot to counteract with throughout the recording. Things get started heavy with fierce opening number "Friction" where Wiik's heartpounding progression an intensity and urgency to band that I haven't heard in a few records. On the next piece, "Some Not All," the group subtle into a rhythm lead by the pianist and Tim Daisy on drums with some unbelievable work from Longberg-Holm on cello. The horn section led by Vandermark provides a wonderful battle like Godzilla vs all of Japan. Wiik contributes to magnificent pieces to this set "New Weather" and "Green Mill Tilter", the latter featured recently on the Atomic live album, Theater Tilters (Jazzland). "New Weather" is nice and complex piece with the horn section leading the way in the early going and quietly giving way to some trio interplay by Wiik, Longberg-Holm and Daisy. Then returning to the horns for some rich, bold statements on each players part. Wiik has written a piece that suits V5 perfectly. Since each of the members have played with one another in very forms you have to except there is a great deal of knowing each others movements and strengths. Wiik and Vandermark have picked up on that perfectly throughout The Horse Jumps...
"Cadmium Oranage" begins with some swirling clarinet work by Vandermark that would make Jimmy Guiffre proud. The track becomes a melodic, avant funk workout for me reminiscent of Vandermark's work with another of his side projects, Spaceways. "Desireless" is beauty piece of avant garde in which Rempis, Vandermark and Broo have an interplay that uncanny drives the rest of the group forward. While Wiik's playing again standouts, its Kessler who is the glue that holds things together here. Kessler's propulsive work is the counterpoint rhythm that keeps the group in track. And speaking of glue, "Cement' is another piece in which Daisy, Wiik and this time, Kessler lead the rhythm with the horn section coming in as cinematic response chords. It gets funky and it gets wild and before you know it--its over. This is amazing piece written by Vandermark which provides another set of opportunities for each member of ensemble to shine accordingly. The final track "Nameless" hits you like a wildfire. The sheer ferocity of Rempis and Vandermark monumental playing here soon opens to a wall of distortion from Longberg-Holm and then returns to some quiet but humorous interplay between horns, piano and drums and finally a destructively perfect ending solidifying well rounded and accomplishing outing. The Vandermark 5 as I have said before, are one of the few bands pushing jazz forward and beyond. The Horse Jumps and The Ship Is Gone is no exception. It is a compelling and sprawling work that challenges everything in free jazz and shows this American quintet plus two to be in peak form. The Vandermark 5 get better with each record. And I have to say this is probably in my top three favourite V5 albums ever. HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! (jazzwrap.blogspot)