Greg Ward - A New Kind of Dance '015

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. A New Kind of Dance
02. Markovsko Horo
03. Candyland
04. Kwela for Taylor
05. Reesie's Wlatz
06. Jackie's Tune
07. Wonderland
08. The Star Crossed Lovers
09. Fear Not of Man
10. AKA Reib Letsma


 moreA New Kind of Dance, the sixth album by his long-running quartet People,
Places & Things, presents the same deft interactive rapport between alto
saxophonist Greg Ward and tenor saxophonist Tim Haldeman; the same crisp
rhythmic drive provided by the leader and bassist Jason Roebke; and the same
indelible mixture of bluesy depth and measured freedom as its superb
predecessors. While the quartet was originally conceived to pay homage to an
overlooked era in the rich history of Chicago jazz - namely, the soulful hard
bop created by the likes of John Jenkins, Wilbur Campbell, Wilbur Ware, John
Neely, and Frank Strozier, among others, in the mid-to-late 50s - the combo has
since developed an ever-expanding repertoire, whether examining the potency of
the Amsterdam scene on the 2013 album Second Cities Vol. 1 or digging into the
music of contemporary Chicago figures on its 2009 album About Us. A New Kind of
Dance advances the boundaries of the quartet’s repertoire further than
ever.

"I don't think that the group’s original mission has much to do with this
project, but I do think, at its core, the music is meant to be nimble and smart
with the arrangements,” says Reed. “However, it's never meant to be
too smart or removed from the audience.” While there are a slew of
hard-hitting original pieces by the drummer, the group also tackles the Mos Def
tune “Fear Not of Man,” the Ellington-Strayhorn classic
“Star-Crossed Lovers,” and the traditional Bulgarian folk dance
“Markovsko Horo.” Of the latter, Reed says its inclusion was
“a way of summing up some of the music you wished you heard more of in
Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia. I've been there several times, but only a few times
have I encountered more traditional music. It was all very impressive and
energetic, especially for dancing and celebrating.”

Reed’s connections to the Amsterdam scene are rooted in family
ties—his mother grew up there—but he’s since developed
strong relationships to musicians there. He had befriended the South American
expat Sean Bergin, who died in September of 2012, and the influence of his music
is very clear A New Kind of Dance. Bergin wrote the hard shuffling “Reib
Letsma” and his love of South African kwela has long infected the Dutch
scene, as heard on Michael Moore’s ebullient “Kwela for
Taylor.” Says Reed, “There's an influence of grooving improvised
music, mostly made in Europe, but which seems to have an original influence from
South Africa. Many of those early recordings did have some participation by
former members of [South African expats] the Blue Notes, which made me look a
little closer at that, and then made me realize the correlation between the
music of Sean Bergin, ICP and many of the Dutch and some of the English
improvisers. It also seems to parallel the highly conceptual improvising of
members of the AACM, who also did not shrug off the more grove-heavy nature of
their own musical roots. I guess maybes there's a desire to remember that this
band is enjoyed most on a visceral level and to give in to the area that music
effects people viscerally, mostly seen in movement.”

Previous recordings by People, Places & Things have featured guest musicians
dear to the leader’s heart, whether through musical influence or personal
relationships. Late 50s Chicago ringers Ira Sullivan, Julian Preister, and Art
Hoyle played on the 2010 album Stories and Negotiations, while cornetist Josh
Berman and pianist Craig Taborn appeared on the 2012’s Clean on the
Corner. For the new record Reed continued the practice, enlisting the help of
veteran New York pianist Matthew Shipp and trumpeter Marquis Hill, winner of the
2014 Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition. “I wanted to
challenge the quartet situation and make things slightly more dimensional, such
as having three-part horn arrangements or having another harmony/rhythm
instrument to dictate the path.

Greg Ward (alto saxophone), 
Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), 
Jason Roebke (bass), 
Mike Reed (drums)
Marquis Hill (trumpet), 
Matthew Shipp (piano).



Mike Reed's People, Places & Things - A New Kind of Dance.rar - 297.6 MB

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