JEREMY CARLSTEDT with BRIAN SETTLES / ANDERS NILSSON / DANTON BOLLER - Sound Escapes
(Carlsteady 003; USA)
Featuring Brian Settles on tenor sax, Anders Nilsson on guitar, Danton Boller on bass and Jeremy Carlstedt on drums. NYC has no shortage of great drummers and this has been the case for nearly a century. Jeremy Carlstedt, who studied and collaborated with Chico Hamilton for many years, is one of the Downtown Underground Greats. I’ve come to appreciate his playing and directing more over the past decade, considering a number of great sets he’s played at DMG throughout the years. Aside from his work with Steve Gauci, Martin Philadelphy and Tim Motzer, Mr. Carlstedt has an ongoing collaboration with DC saxist Brian Settles. Recently Carlstedt has been working with guitarist Anders Nilsson, another friend and fave of mine who rarely get the recognition he deserves. Although I didn’t recognize the name of the bassist here, Danton Boller, I found that he has worked with Seamus Blake, Tomas Fujiwara (also with Brian Settles) and Jeff Siegel.
“Blues for Arnie” (Lawrence?) opens and it is a stripped down, skeletal blues. It creates a solemn mood, quietly spooky and somewhat dirge-like. Both the tenor sax and guitar play eerie, reflective solos using few notes yet still the hypnotic simmer continues. “Duet” is a duet for tenor sax and drums and it is a superbly recorded, dreamy, both players warm, lush and sublime. Although I don’t think that Mr. Settles and Mr. Nilsson hadn’t played together before, they sound perfect together. Both play with the same mature, thoughtful restraint. Mr. Carlstedt plays a duet with his daughters’ amplified heartbeat which lovely, natural, organic sound. “The Preacher, The Teacher” is a fine duo for acoustic guitar with hands on drums, also stripped down yet evoking some smoky late-night blues. The quartet gets even more expansive on “Other Places”, which features a powerful, explosive guitar solo and an equally impressive drum solo in the second half. What I find most interesting is this: Anders Nilsson has often played more intense jazz/rock guitar with his own bands and with Fay Victor. Here, he lays back a bit, taking his time to more with less, fewer notes used more spaciously, making ever note, every nuance count. The use of suspense is carefully administered here. On the next to the last tune, “Starting from Today”, acoustic bassist Boller, takes a long, expressive story-like bass solo midway, his playing is the heart of this song. This is a consistently marvelous disc that shows the a more laid back yet evocative vibe which feels just right. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
credits
released January 28, 2020
Jeremy Carlstedt - Drums
Brian Settles - Saxophone
Anders Nilsson - Guitar
Danton Boller - Bass (1, 8, 10)
New York City based drummer/songwriter/vocalist Jeremy Carlstedt, known for his dynamic style, organic feel on the drums and musical intuition, has performed with some of the most forward thinking artists in jazz, rock, electronic and world music.
Sweet noisy avant-garde jazz with a rocky edge and a punk spirit, not to mention plenty of non-standard instrumentation and a good sense of humour. DoomZappo
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So happy to see a new album from this band. I've long been a fan of Mazurek and Parker's work in Tortoise, on top of the CUQ... Anyhow, if you're curious about contemporary jazz, this is a terrific place to start.
Hobie Anthony