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NEWS RELEASE:
Jon Irabagon Trio Featuring Barry Altschul Releases "Foxy" on Hot Cup Records September 14, 2010
Winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition Presents an Epic Trio Recording
Featuring: Legendary Drummer Barry Altschul and Bassist Peter Brendler
"Jon is one of the city’s deadliest horn players.”
– Hank Shteamer, Time Out New York
“Jon’s encyclopedic knowledge reworks, and rewrites, history with an omnivorous curiosity.”
— Vincenzo Roggero, Italian All About Jazz
Hot Cup Records is proud to announce the release of "Foxy", the fourth album as a leader by saxophonist Jon Irabagon. Joining him on this trio recording are the legendary drummer Barry Altschul and bassist Peter Brendler. Over the course of 78 plus minutes, the trio explores and attempts to exhaust the possibilities of a standard sixteen bar form. In his extraordinary uninterrupted tenor saxophone solo, Irabagon interacts with his two bandmates and draws on historical elements from both his own work and that of past masters.
Rarely, if ever, do young musicians with Irabagon's mainstream credentials and awards attempt such a range of ambitious projects. Ideas present in Irabagon's first three releases merge here to create an important artistic statement and a continuation of his already illustrious career. The flexibility of the jazz tradition and the relationship between "inside" and "outside" playing, first explored on
"Outright" (Innova), is pushed further in this trio recording. Irabagon has also explored long-form improvisation and the use of recurring motifs in his duo with Mike Pride.
Like many young musicians, Irabagon has sought out older, more experienced players to perform and record with. His previous release, "The Observer" (Concord), featured Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid, and Victor Lewis, one of the classic rhythm sections in jazz. Yet the choice of Barry Altschul seems more appropriate given the range of Irabagon's interests. Having earned his place in jazz history by performing with such diverse legends as Hampton Hawes, Dave Holland, Lee Konitz, Anthony Braxton, and Paul Bley, Altschul is the perfect combination of tradition, innovation, and experience. Irabagon and Altschul's interaction on "Foxy" demonstrates both their similar musical sensibilities and astonishing technical prowess.
In just under eighty minutes, the trio is able to manipulate a simple sixteen-bar form into an amazing array of possibilities. Bassist Peter Brendler provides rock-solid quarter notes one moment, only to burst into double-stops, extended techniques and pedal-point the next. The rhythm section also vary the tempo, tonality, feel, and subdivision beneath Irabagon's unflagging solo lines. The entire recording is bursting with forward momentum and drive that leaves the listener yearning for more after the abrupt ending.
"Foxy", an uninterrupted performance, has been divided into 12 tracks. The song titles each reflectsome aspect of the instrumental interaction that happens within, whether it’s the swagger and coyness of Foxy, the tick-like repetition of Tsetse, the unbridled exuberance of Moxie, the simultaneous bitonal improvising in Unorthodoxy, or the jump swing of Biloxi.
Jon Irabagon, a mainstay in the DownBeat Critics Poll, and part of the award-winning ensemble Mostly Other People Do the Killing, created a personal voice on both the alto and tenor saxophones in the most straight ahead and most avant-garde of contexts. In addition to his four CDs as a leader, Jon can be heard on recordings by Mary Halvorson, Brandon Lee, Talibam!, and Bright Eyes.
Born in the south Bronx, drummer-composer Barry Altschul first gained notoriety with Paul Bley. The success of this trio led to world tours and recordings with such notables as Steve Swallow, Gary Peacock, Steve Lacy, Roswell Rudd, and many others. At the end of the 60s he co- founded Circle with Chick Corea, Anthony Braxton and Dave Holland, and also performed with the Sam Rivers Trio and with the Anthony Braxton quartet. His familiarity with the tradition also landed him work with the likes of Hampton Hawes, Sonny Criss, Lee Konitz, Art Pepper, Johnny Griffin, Babs Gonzalez, and many others. Barry has participated in over a 160 recordings, with 10 as a leader. When asked how his music is best described, he quotes the late great drummer Beaver Harris: “from Rag Time to no time”.
Bassist Peter Brendler grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, moving to New York City in 2001. He has performed and/or recorded with artists such as John Abercrombie, Rich Perry, Victor Lewis, Lew Tabakin, Darren Barrett, Jeff Hirshfield, and Frank Kimbrough at venues such as The Blue Note, Birdland, The Jazz Standard, Sweet Rhythm, and The Kennedy Center.
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