The Wall London Band - Birth & Rebirth

The Greg Wall Frank London Band
Birth & Rebirth

Label: NotTwo, 1999
Catalogue No: MW 709
Format: CD

Tracks:

1. To the Metal (Wall) [06:20]
2. Last Temptation of Lady (Wall) [05:46]
3. Clarity / Elegy (London) [06:08]
4. The Body Slam (London) [07:56]
5. Little Giant (London) [05:16]
6. Bush-wah (London) [05:38]
7. Birth / Rebirth (Wall) [08:02]
8. We Came To Play (London) [03:42]
9. To Be Continued (Wall) [07:02]

Line-up:

Greg Wall - tenor saxophone
Frank London - trumpet
Josh Roseman - trombone
Etan Iverson - piano
Kenny Davis - bass
Yoron Israel - drums
Ryvka Blumenleitz - vocal

Recorded:

on January 27, 1999 at Tedesco Studios, Paramus, New York. Recorded by John Rosenberg. Edited and mastered by Bob Ward. Remastered by Tomasz Rogula at TR Sound Studios, Krakow.

About:

Greg Wall and Frank London have been making music together for close to twenty years, since their student days at the New England Conservatory of Music. Their collective experiences, taking them throughout North America and Europe, run the gamut of many diverse and exciting projects -Jazz; Old and New; Blues; Ethnic and World Music; Performance Art and Avant / New Music.
Wall and London’s new recording, “Birth / Rebirth” is a celebration of the individual creative spirit, while simultaneously embracing the rich tradition of the American Jazz Band. The nine compositions on the album, all composed by Wall and London, represent a distinct voice in interpreting the Jazz legacy.
Greg Wall has performed and recorded with Kenny Barren, the Cybernetic Saxophone Quartet, Miroslav Vitous, D.Sharpe, Bill Frisell, Billy Hart, Kolos, the Hi-Tops, the Jazz Vultures, Piamenta, Avantango and Hasidic NewWave, as well as many session appearances for record dates and film scores. Greg is Jazz Artist in Residence for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
Frank London  is a member of the Klezmatics, Les Miserables Brass Band, and Hasidic New Wave. His trumpet can be heard on over 75 recordings including those of John Zorn, MelTorme, LesterBowie,La Monte Young, They Might Be Giants and Gal Costa. London’s compositions for film include: The Debt, The Brother From Another Planet (John Sayles) and The Schvitz (CD on Knitting Factory Works).
Josh Roseman is featured soloist with Brooklyn Funk Essentials and the Groove Collective. He has toured and recorded with Slide Hampton, Don Byron, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Dave Douglas.
Ethan Iverson at age twenty two, has established himself as the young lion of the piano. He has recorded two albums as a leader, including one with Dewey Redman. He is equally at home in the classical tradition, and also plays with the New York – Buenos Aires Connection and Avantango.
Kenny Davis has recorded and toured with Herbie Hancock, Art Farmer, Steve Coleman, Cassandra Wilson, OTB, Don Byron, and the Mingus Big Band. He is equally dangerous on the electric bass.
Yoron Israel is perhaps the most in demand young drummer in New York, having toured and recorded with Sonny Rollins, Ahmad Jamal, Abbey Lincoln, Kenny Barren, Buster Williams and countless others.

Review:

This 1999's CD is worth looking for. According to the liner notes, Wall and London have been playing together since they were students together at the New England Conservatory nearly twenty years ago. Unlike their electrified Hasidic New Wave band, this sextet date of original compositions is a totally acoustic affair. Trombonist Josh Roseman joins them in the front line, with the rapid response rhythm team of Ethan Iverson, Kenny Davis and Yoron Israel rounding out the group. They like to develop the pieces dramatically, in a dynamic style with quick changes of feel and tempo. Take London's "The Body Slam", an extreme example.  This winning performance begins with just the horns, out of tempo. Slowly the rhythm section comes in, then takes over as the horns fall into silence. The horns reenter and the music grows more forceful, with start and stop rhythms building in pace and volume. Only after about 3 minutes is there a theme, or rather a pair of themes: a staccato riff followed by a slow boppish line. The eight minute piece eventually features a questing tenor solo that's slowly enveloped by crying trumpet, booming bass and cymbal crashes before the unison line repeats. It's quite a trip. "Last Temptation Of Lady I" is a funky number by Wall, with the rhythm section playing patterns underneath mutated R'n'B lines laid down by the horns. The slow drag pace impels some hot solos from London, Roseman and Wall. London's "Little Giant" is a straight-ahead burner that becomes a vehicle for soloists, though even here the arrangements for the rhythm section make the piece more distinctive then it would be without the extra care that London and Wall put on their charts. Except for Karen Goldfedder's stagy vocal on London's "Clarity/Elegy", which sounds like it found its way onto the tape from another session entirely, this set has a lot to recommend it: good tunes, spunky performances, positive energy, and the feeling that they did indeed "come to play".  (Review courtesy of © Stuart Kremsky)