Daniel Carter is not an enigma, no more than a teeming forest is. Give some sincerely up for true and you've made a commitment which will last a lifetime, if you've got the mettle for searching unfettered. If the world ever does truly silence for a moment please, the first sounds I would want to hear are the ones that Daniel Carter chooses, because I know that true democracy is deep in his essence.
Daniel Carter, Shanir Ezra
Blumenkrantz, Kevin Zubek
Chinatown
Label: Not Two, 2003
Catalog No: MW 753-02
Format: CD
Tracks:
1. Hak Zhou [11:59]
2. Tai Hong Lau [05:20]
3. Sun Dou [04:16]
4. Zhong Guo [02:00]
5. Xiao Zhi An [05:19]
6. Shun Da [03:07]
7. Jing Jing Lok [03:22]
8. Sun Mei [05:19]
9. Xian Shi [05:02]
10. Teng Fei [05:18]
11. Guo Zhi Han [07:54]
Line up:
Daniel Carter - tenor & alto saxophones, trumpet, flute, clarinet
Shanir Ezra Blumenkrantz - bass, oud
Kevin Zubek - drums, percussion
Recorded:
in Brooklyn, NYC between August 25th and 26th, 2003
Reviews:
Talking of acts from New York, Chinatown features one of the stalwarts of the
scene, reedman Daniel Carter, in a trio with Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (bass, oud)
and Kevin Zubek (percussion) recorded in Brooklyn in August 2003. The opening
four minutes of "Hok Zhou" find Blumenkranz and Zubek providing a spacious,
rolling clatter for Carter to stretch out on top of, until the texture thins out
halfway through the track. Zubek's delicate wood blocks and tambourines prompt
some daring arco work from Blumenkranz, and once more Carter, without having to
spar with other horns, as is the case in Test and Other Dimensions In Music, is
able to develop his ideas at length. His serpentine motivic explorations recall
vintage Sam Rivers, but there's a refreshing fragility to the sound, especially
on alto, that makes a welcome change from the testosterone of much NY free jazz.
This is especially apparent on "Sun Dou", a duet for Carter and Blumenkranz's
oud, in which the saxophonist is just as comfortable exploring the scalar
nuances of Middle Eastern modality as he is blowing wild on "Teng Fei". The oud
returns on "Sun Mei", which this time features Zubek's polyrhythmic bustle,
while Carter sketches delicate flute arabesques. Only two of the album's eleven
cuts go beyond the six-minute mark, and the short form - short not being
synonymous with straightforward: the music is able to change tracks with
surprising speed - suits the musicians well. Chinatown is one of the freshest
and most creative outings of recent times, and you could do yourself a favour
and check it out.
(Dan Warbuton, Paris Trans Atlantic)
******
Native Chinese have no need of Chinatowns; they're only necessary for Chinese in
foreign lands. So any band naming its CD after that unique urban area must come
to terms with exile, rapprochement and social mobility
By the same token each of the musicians featured here brings his background to
bear on the 11 tracks on this session. Although all three are American, the
strands of sound that they intermingle are removed enough for homogenized
popular music that the endproduct needs a separate forum, like the unaffected
area around New York's Chinatown, in which to flourish.
The band's two younger members, string player Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz and
percussionist Kevin Zubek bring Hebraic, Middle Eastern and world-rock
sensibilities to the mix, having performed with such Jewish-inflected
experimental units as The Lemon Juice Quartet and the trio Satlah. Blumenkranz,
who plays bass and oud here, has, in the past, backed up such experimental
reedists as Sabir Mateen, Anthony Braxton and Sonny Simmons, so finding common
ground with the group's veteran soloist is no stretch. One of Free Jazz's most
accomplished players, multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter has spent nearly 30
years trading ideas with the cream of outside players from all over, including
trumpeter Roy Campbell, bassists Peter Kowald and William Parker and drummer
Hamid Drake.
Using all the colors available from Zubek's drums and percussion and
Blumenkranz's stringed instruments, the two mesh easily with lead lines
ejaculating from Carter's alto and tenor saxophones, trumpet, flute and
clarinet. Together they make a powerful statement and if they aren't yet as
together as some of Carter's other groups such as Other Dimensions In Music, it
isn't for lack of trying new things. As a matter of fact, the CD's only real
weakness is its number of tracks. Fewer, longer numbers may have been a better
strategy.
At almost eight minutes, for instance, "Guo Zhi Han" gives the three enough
space in which to show off how Zubek's pumped up cymbal evocations meld with
Blumenkranz's thumping pizzicato line and Carter's chesty tenor saxophone tones.
It also provides a showcase for the bassist to sound out some wiggling arco
slurs, as Blumenkranz strums and finger picks his bull fiddle as if it was a
large guitar. Earlier, his ponticello vibrations almost move his output into
violin territory and cause Carter to mirror that sound with his split tone
screeches.
On the 12-minute-and-change first track, "Hak Zhou", Carter's shows off not only
his swaying, triple tonguing Trane-like alto work, but also his clarinet tones
which, squeak, sneak and circle around the theme before introducing reed kisses.
The percussionist contributes sounds that could come from a bata drum and
unselected cymbals, while the bassist applies enough torque to his strings to
multi stop before moving into legato plucks to hold everything together.
Legit ethnic sounds make their appearance on "Sun Dou" and "Sun Mei", as
Blumenkranz, who studied music in Israel as well as the U.S. displays his oud
prowess. Plucking away on the five pairs of strings with a guitarist's facility,
on the first, he builds to a crescendo of smeared fingering, which is soon
matched by a breathy, tender tone from the tenor sax. When Carter begins double
tonguing a snaking timbre that resembles an ancient Middle Eastern flute,
Blumenkranz picks away emphasizing -- no surprise -- the drone from the oud's
lowest and thickest string known as the bamteli.
Somehow Carter adapts the texture of a cross-blown Arabic flute to the second
piece, with the oudist pecking a definitely non-Western melody. Zubek's isolated
cymbal thwacks and wooden nerve beats add to the atmosphere and help amplify
Blumenkranz's string snaps and slurred fingering.
As for the other tunes, they certainly allow the three to exhibits all sorts of
Free Music extended techniques. These include bluesy, clarion-calls, multiphonic
lines, muted Milesean trumpet licks, speaking-in-tongues screeches and
simultaneously blowing and mumbling through his mouthpiece from Carter. Then
there's Zubek lashing his cymbals, bouncing and rebounding his snares and toms,
exercises his claves and ringing his cowbell as if he was a ranch cook.
Meanwhile, Blumenkranz displays expansive, dense bowed licks, screeching supple
tremolo ponticello lines and even a tincture of Classic Jazz slap bass.
On the evidence here, the trio members have made CHINATOWN a place you'd like to
visit.
(Ken Waxman, Jazz Wire)
******
Chinatown es el nombre del trío del soplador norteamericano Daniel Carter (saxos
alto y tenor, trompeta, flauta y clarinete), conocido por los aficionados al
free jazz por ser integrante de las formaciones underground TEST y ODIM (Other
Dimensions In Music). Los otros miembros son Shamir Ezra Blumenkranz (contrabajo,
oud) y Kevin Zubek (percusión). Grabado el año pasado en Brooklyn, el álbum
homónimo de este trío muestra a un Daniel Carter más melodioso e introspectivo
de lo que habitualmente se oye en esas formaciones, aspectos que ya había
revelado en “Luminescence”, un disco a dúo con Reuben Radding, grabado ese mismo
año para el sello norteamericano Aum Fidelity.
El hecho de que Carter se muestre menos impetuoso que de costumbre no significa
que éste sea un disco menos desafiante para el oyente. Al contrario, tal vez por
no ser el contexto ideal para que el saxofonista desate su estilo más
incendiario –la ausencia de otro soplador debe tener que ver, ya que no hay
quien lo “desasosiegue”- permite a Daniel Carter concentrarse en un mundo
interior de pormenores y sutilezas sonoras que pudieran pasar desapercibidas
cuando la intensidad es total.
Por eso es un placer poder apreciar el trabajo sobre las tonalidades, los
matices, inflexiones y motivos tímbricos, que se combinan con toda naturalidad
con las texturas de la percusión de Kevin Zubek y las sonoridades orientales de
Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, dos jóvenes músicos de Nueva York que demuestran poder
acompañar al maestro con todas las de la ley.
Aunque sea el tono tranquilo el que más está en evidencia en este álbum, los
entusiastas del lado salvaje del soplo de Carter tiene su santuario en este
bello ejemplar de arte del trío: en tres de los once temas del disco, Carter se
despacha a gusto, elevándose hasta las altas cumbres de la intensidad sonora,
magistralmente secundado por sus acompañantes, notables a la hora de seguir los
cambios de velocidad que su soplo imprime a la música. Personalmente este es uno
de los mejores trabajos de Daniel Carter de los que conozco.
(Eduardo Chagas, Toma Jazz)
******
This début recording by Chinatown, an unusual trio made up of downtown's wildly
diverse music scene, finds the venerable free player Daniel Carter still doing
his thing, this time with a young, unique rhythm section. Bassist Shanir Ezra
Blumenkranz's playing is muscular and gutteral, and his bowing is turgidly
pleasing. On this outing he also shows off his prowess on the oud. Drummer Kevin
Zubek, mostly self-taught, has an unconventional drumming style—spacious and
asymmetrical, largely eschewing standard jazz or even free jazz rhythms. He sits
oddly high at the kit and attacks with what seems an impossibly awkward
comportment to some, but produces percussive music that transcends technique.
This trio toured Poland last year, where they developed a strong rapport from
the sound of it, and landed a recording deal with the Polish label Not Two.
The record opens with Carter blowing luscious Coltranesque lines on tenor, but
as this twelve-minute piece progresses we hear him push outward, finding new and
exotic phrasings. The remaining tracks, comparatively brief, cover a range of
mood and color as Carter later switches to trumpet, flute and clarinet.
Blumenkranz and Zubek back him up with just the right mix of background and
foreground playing. This doesn't sound like a trio that has been together for
decades. It sounds more or less like what it is: a new trio that has made a very
fine beginning in a short time.
Carter has as much dexterity and as lovely a tone on tenor as can be found among
living reed players, plus a strong and distinctive personal style. It's long
been my contention that, should he ever decide to pursue a career in standard
jazz, he'd almost instantly be one of the busiest players in the field. While
projects like Chinatown won't likely result in stints at Birdland, that's just
as he seems to like it. Chinatown is both another vehicle for an important
fixture of New York free music and a fine showcase for two talented younger
players.
(Ty Cumbie, All About Jazz)