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  • Single Piece Flow

    ALP47

    Artist: The Vandermark 5

    Label: Atavistic

    This, the first recording by the Vandermark 5, created a template for the next several releases by the band: relatively concise compositions alternating up-tempo burners with contemplative numbers, hewing to a post-Ornette Coleman approach that touched on free improv while essentially remaining fairly straightforward. Vandermark, who wrote all the compositions, is often at his best penning themes with surging, motoric riffs that, oddly enough, recall some of the driving pieces of early King Crimson. These songs, like the conclusion of "Careen" (dedicated to Jackie Chan!), have an irresistible momentum and are very solidly nailed together, providing a wonderful substructure for all manner of improvisation on top. The musicians are all up to the task, though it's Jeb Bishop (on trombone, especially) and Kent Kessler who are the real standouts, each adding that little extra bit of nuance and imagination to make the best numbers take off. But the "stars" of the album are the compositions themselves, probing and muscular, offering a fresh way through the stasis that was building in some circles of avant jazz by the mid-'90s. Pieces like "Data Janitor" are infused with an intense kind of rigor and drive themselves right to the brink of chaotic explosiveness before reining themselves in. This kind of "platform" proved pretty successful in luring many a rock fan into this more abstract music and served as a basis for much of Vandermark's work in upcoming years, both on his own and...

  • Free Jazz Classics Vol. 3 & 4

    ALP170

    Artist: The Vandermark 5

    Label: Atavistic

    A companion set to 2003's FREE JAZZ CLASSICS, VOLS. 1 & 2, VOLS. 3 & 4 find the Vandermark 5 paying tribute to two pioneering innovators: Sonny Rollins and Roland Kirk. Spread out over two discs--one for Rollins and one for Kirk--Ken Vandermark ... Full Descriptionand company select some of those composers' most challenging compositions, and treat the material with the subversive respect it demands.

    Both men were renowned for their restless commitment to redefining the limits of jazz; the ensemble takes the outlines of their compositions and stretches them with imagination and vigor, informed by sophisticated harmonic conceptions and a sense of swing. The formidable chops of all five members of Vandermark's group are on constant display throughout both discs, making this set a sure shot of contemporary free jazz. .

    The Vandermark 5: Ken Vandermark (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone); Dave Rempis (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Jeb Bishop (trombone); Kent Kessler (bass instrument); Tim Daisy (drums).

    Recording information: The Green Mill, Chicago, Illinois; The Empty Bottle, Chicago, Illinois (2003).

    The Wire (p.74) - "Vandermark gets inside some of the music that shaped his own playing and investigates what it really means to him, before moving on to open up other avenues of his own."
    JazzTimes (p.88) - "The arrangements are nicely written....Rempis and Vandermark do manage to generate some excitement."

    - Amazon.com

  • A Discontinuous Line

    ALP173

    Artist: The Vandermark 5

    Label: Atavistic

    Woodwind multi-instrumentalist Ken Vandermark has seen a number of personnel changes in his decade-old flagship group, the Vandermark 5. But when charter member Jeb Bishop left last year, Vandermark made the decision not to replace him with another trombonist. The Color of Memory (Atavistic, 2005) stands, as a result, as a high point and watershed mark of the “old” Vandermark 5. A Discontinuous Line marks a significant shift with the recruitment of cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, himself no stranger to the Chicago avant garde scene. By adding an instrument that has the capacity for chordal support, Vandermark has reinvigorated his writing for the quintet. Not that it needed any in the first place.
    Blasphemy it may be to suggest such a thing, but the new lineup may well be a more balanced one. With two horns, two strings and percussion, there is plenty of texture available. But the replacement of Bishopats always expressive trombone has created a sound that, while also capable of aggressive extremes as ever, enables a greater delicacy—beauty, even.

    On “La Dernier Cri,at Tim Daisy's soft tympani-like mallet work on the toms creates a persistent undercurrent of rhythm. The piece starts with cued chords built amongst Vandermark, Lonberg-Holm, saxophonist Dave Rempis and bassist Kent Kessler. Were it not for Daisy, the piece would feel very Ligeti-like, although when it shifts into collective improvisation which treats space as an equal component, the reference dissolves....

  • Exercises In Surprise

    ALP150

    Artist: The Vandermark 5

    Label: Atavistic

    Produced by Bob Weston, the new V5 album Elements of Style is concerned with scale- and is available only in size XXL. Chicago's (and perhaps America's) most powerful new jazz quintet have created an array of musical themes & structures destined to blow the roof off the/your house with a superb balance of post-bop & avant-garde material. Ken Vandermark's premiere project has been touring the planet relentlessly, and has never sounded more big time, complete or sublime.

  • Acoustic Machine

    ALP128

    Artist: The Vandermark 5

    Label: Atavistic

    The Tesla coil that the Vandermark 5 has become seems beyond built to last; the creative whole constantly outweighs the sum of the parts in this quintet. To see the V5 live, on top of their game is like watching a perfectly-calibrated NBA championship team deliver with the fluidity & vocabulary of skills required for greatness.

    At their best, each player knows their strengths & respective place, and manages to put aside ego for the advancement the group's collective goals. Each album in the V5's discography has been captivating, tuneful, muscular & focused; but Acoustic Machine, their annual installment for 2001, is likely their most distilled effort yet.

    - IndieJazz.com

  • Target Or Flag

    ALP106

    Artist: The Vandermark 5

    Label: Atavistic

    The Vandermark 5's sophomore effort is a major leap from their debut Single Piece Flow, a tightrope walk between conventional jazz forms and wild avant musings; Vandermark possesses both a vast sonic range and impressive tonal strength, and backed by ace Chicago area players like Mars Williams and Kent Kessler, his most innovative ideas are executed to their fullest.

    ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide