"Frank discussion of personal vulnerability is prima facie unacceptable in metal" - Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies would like a word. (Although he really is the exception that proves the rule.)
That Battle Trance album is really cool. The guy who leads it, Travis Laplante, had a group (don't know if they're still active) with Darius Jones (another amazing saxophonist/composer) called Little Women; their albums Throat and Lung are fantastic. I wrote about them a while ago for my own site, Burning Ambulance: https://burningambulance.com/2013/04/09/little-women/
As far as alto saxophonists, try Tim Berne - he's recently put a bunch of his older albums up on Bandcamp. I recommend anything by his Science Friction band.
Yeah, Stefon Harris is great; I haven't heard much from him in a while, though. A guy named Behn Gillece has a new album out this month that's definitely worthwhile, too.
You know, I thought about adding a guitarist, but couldn't come up with anybody who really blew me away the way dudes like Grant Green and Sonny Sharrock did. Honestly, most jazz guitarists today play like they're afraid someone might hear them. But try Joe Morris - he does a bunch of different things, from super-clean playing to almost noise-rock stuff, and he also doubles on upright bass from time to time.
I knew that was gonna be a controversial choice, but it had to be in there, because it has four then-new songs introducing the quartet lineup, and a) those songs are great, b) every other song on the record, obviously, is killer. And as good as the band's 21st Century work has been, No Remorse still serves as an ideal introduction.
Comments