Gold Sparkle Band
Brooklyn Cantos CD (Squealer 039) 2004
With one foot firmly planted in the avant tradition and the other
boldly stepping into the future, the Gold Sparkle Band's newest
recording, Brooklyn Cantos, unites them with kindred spirit Ken
Vandermark for one of the first important jazz recordings of the new
decade. Vandermark and the GSB members share similar sensibilities
and influences, and their sympathetic interplay exemplifies the
heroic conviction present in the heart of the finest jazz recordings.
This is the third full length Gold Sparkle release on Squealer,
following the widely acclaimed records NU*SOUL ZODIAC in 2000 and
FUGUES AND FLOWERS in 2002.
"With a huge, exuberant sound that belies their small size, they fuse
elements of early Ornette Coleman, the mid-60's ESP crowd (esp.
Albert Ayler), the AACM in their heyday, and the contemporary
downtown avant scene..."-Dave Mandl, The Wire
Liner notes on this release by Magnet columnist Bill Meyer.
Songs:
1. People's Republic - Sirone (Serious Music, BMI)
2. 'Burg Girl - Waters (Nu Iron Music, BMI)
3. Marcella Variations #1 - Barker (BMI)
4. Game Over - Waters
5. Architexture #12 (718) - Waters
6. Autumn Ever - Waters
7. Carpet Quarterbagger – Barker
Fugues and Flowers CD (Squealer 035) 2002
Andrew Barker-Percussion
Adam Roberts-Bass
Roger Ruzow-Trumpet
Charles Waters-Alto Saxophone, clarinets
1. Zodiac Attack 10:30
2. Second City Fugue (Subject) 15:38
3. Second City Fugue (Answer) 1:21
4. Second City Fugue (Counter-Subject) 8:32
5. Holiday For Flowers 5:48
6. Motor City Fugue 25:29
Total Time: 67:19
There's a palpable sense of adventure at play over the course
of the four magnificent pieces on Fugues and Flowers, recorded
at various venues during the band's tour of the Midwest in the
late spring of 2000. The southern astro-funk of their previous
album Nu*Soul Zodiac gets transmogrified into something
deeper and more complex, as new ideas inform the music and allow
it to expand outward. The band was always solid and well-rehearsed,
but now the rhythm section has that rare intuitive quality, the
compositions are complex, yet memorable, and the ensemble playing
is exciting. GSB is capable of a driving muscularity, as they
demonstrate on the powerful opener "Zodiac Attack", but they are
just as comfortable with a gentle, melodic lyricism, as their
excellent version of William Parker's "Holiday For Flowers" proves.
The band reworks their older material with vigor, and attack the
challenging new material with verve. Fugues and Flowers
feels like a transitional recording, yet it's a powerful statement
in its own right; if there's a transition taking place it's from
excellence to transcendence.
"Zodiac Attack" realized collectively by GSB (Nu Iron Music,
BMI).
"Second City Fugue" and "Motor City Fugue", from The Book of
Future Fugues, composed by Charles Waters (Nu Iron Music,
BMI), copyright 2002.
"Holiday For Flowers" by William Parker (Centering Music, BMI).
"Zodiac Attack" and "Holiday For Flowers" recorded 4/26/00 at
the Empty Bottle, Chicago (first set) by Malachi Ritscher/Savage
Sound Syndicate. malachi@savagesound.com
"Second City Fugue" recorded 4/27/00 at WNUR, Chicago.
"Motor City Fugue" recorded by Jeff Rackley (spoons247@yahoo.com)
at the First Existentialist Church of Atlanta 5/3/00.
Album mastered by Chris Griffin At Griffin Studios Atlanta, GA
Thanks to T. Milton Jones and Euphonic Productions, Geoffrey M.
Greenberg, Bethany Ryker, WRCT, Eric Weddle, Entropy Studios,
Liz Copeland, WDET, Walt Davis, WXDU, Ross Grady, and the Immigrant
Sons. Special thanks to Aubrey Pope, Janis Shen, Daniel Carter,
Roy Campbell Jr., William Parker, Ken Vandermark and RE for their
friendship and continuing inspiration.
Nu*Soul Zodiac CD (Squealer 028) 2000
Andrew D. Barker-Drums/Percussion
Adam Roberts-Bass
Roger V. Ruzow-Trumpet
Charles Waters-Reeds
Special Guest-Kim LeMonde, Cello
Nu Millenuim Waltz (Waters) 7:09
Other Anthem (Waters) 5:17
Motor City Fugue (Waters) 2:33
The Aleph (G.S.B. + LeMonde) 2:17
Fellowship (Waters) 10:50
Double Bump (Ruzow/Waters) 2:14
Promises of Democracy (Ruzow) 5:46
Splintered Synapse (G.S.B.+LeMonde) 1:38
Borges (Ruzow) 2:44
Soul Zodiac (Waters) 4:31
Carousel Lost (Waters) 2:45
The Gold Sparkle Band hit New York fully-formed in 1998, and
Nu*Soul Zodiac, their third album, documents their breakthrough.
Blurring the line between composition and improvisation, GSB
move seamlessly from dirges saturated with Messiaen-ic color
to full-throttle free playing. The band has a near-telepathic
interplay that comes from years of fellowship; multi-reedist
Charles Waters and trumpeter Roger Ruzow arc solos across the
sky, rising on currents generated by the energy of Adam Roberts'
eloquent, muscular bass and Andrew Barker's flood of rhythms.
Recorded February 27-March 1, 1999 at Railroad Earth Studios
in Atlanta, Georgia
Engineered by Neil Fried
Mixdown by Roger Ruzow and Neil Fried
Mastered @ Griffin Mastering by Chris Griffin
All Horns purchased from and repaired by Charles and Russel
Fail at Charles Fail Music, Woodstock, Georgia.
This item is out of print.
Each CD is $13.00 postpaid.
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Catch a complete
archived video and audio performance from the folks at Supersphere.
Also check out a great show live
at WFMU on the Stork Club from January 7, 2001: The Gold
Sparkle Band Meets Les Falaises. Charles Waters of GSB, plus
French musicians from Les Falaises--a Paris art-collective living
in a squat in Montmarte in the north of Paris.
DISCOGRAPHY • REVIEWS
• TOUR DATES •
CONTACT
• JUMPARTS.ORG •
FREE WILLIAMSBURG
• ANDREW
BARKER'S CURRICULUM VITAE
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