Home » Jazz Articles » Elliott Sharp
Jazz Articles about Elliott Sharp
Perelman / Ribot / Sharp / Morris: Trifecta
by Mark Corroto
With a discography approaching 200 releases, it might be tempting to imagine saxophonist Ivo Perelman as a kind of jazz gunfighter, in the lineage of Charlie Parker or Coleman Hawkins, stepping into one cutting contest after another. But that image misses the mark. Perelman's recordings are rarely about competition. Instead, they are grounded in creation, collaboration and deep musical partnership. The closest he comes to that rough-and-tumble spirit is in his long-running exchanges with pianist Matthew Shipp, where the intensity ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli Quintet: Follow A Very Heavy Person
by Mark Corroto
Time, as a concept, transforms into an endless playground in the hands of Sergio Armaroli. In Follow A Very Heavy Person, the quintet expands upon the foundations laid in Introducing A Very Heavy Person, delving deeper into the sonic and philosophical dimensions of John Cage and Kenneth Patchen's 1942 experimental radio play, The City Wears A Slouch Hat. Emerging from the same recording session, this second volume extends and reinvents its predecessor's exploration of simultaneity, improvisation and the ephemeral nature ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli: Introducing A Very Heavy Person, First Visit
by Mark Corroto
If you reject the assumption that time is linear, the ability to conceive of a time machine is simple. Assume for this discussion that the concepts of past, present, and future are a false dichotomy. In other words, the past and the future simultaneously occur with the present. Composer and percussionist Sergio Armaroli accepts this premise and his quintet accomplishes a rather time-less travel through twelve tracks. Let's back up a bit. In his career, Armaroli has been ...
Continue ReadingElliott Sharp - Sally Gates - Tashi Dorji: Ere Guitar
by Mark Corroto
There is an art to arranging the guests at a dinner party or wedding reception. One wants to foster interesting conversations, sometimes between strangers, and create new friendships. The same can be said of Ere Guitar, a party organized by Downtown legend Elliott Sharp. The guitarist had previously released Err Guitar (Intakt, 2017) with his colleagues American guitarists Mary Halvorson and Marc Ribot. With this 2023 recording, Sharp invited New Zealand guitarist Sally Gates, who is a member of the ...
Continue ReadingIvo Perelman: Artificial Intelligence
by Jeff Schwartz
Do not be misled by the title: no bots or algorithms were involved in creating this album. While there have been fascinating experiments in improvisation with interactive software by George Lewis, Richard Teitelbaum and others, Artificial Intelligence is just under an hour of spontaneous human interaction by two of the most prolific and uncategorizable improvisers in New York. This is a studio recording of free improvisation, from January 2022. There are no compositions, and if there are ...
Continue ReadingIvo Perelman and Elliott Sharp: Artificial Intelligence
by Hrayr Attarian
Saxophonist Ivo Perelman has mastered the art of duets. In addition to multiple collaborations with pianist Matthew Shipp, in the third decade of the 21st century he released two box-sets of one-on-one recordings, the first with pianists and the second with other woodwind players. On Artificial Intelligence he is paired with composer and guitarist Elliott Sharp for an entirely improvised four-part set of provocative music. The versatile Sharp, an experimenter par excellence, is immediately in sync with Perelman ...
Continue ReadingAndrew Cyrille, Elliot Sharp, Richard Teitelbaum: Evocation
by Howard Mandel
Evocation is what all writing about music must be about and may be the mission of music itself. To create an impression, to summon a memory or tender a suggestion of presence using materials that are not substantially those of the endeavor's subject--isn't that the fundamental purpose of any art? Not to be pretentious or obscure the thing itself: It must be said that master drummer Andrew Cyrille, guitarist-reedist Elliott Sharp and Richard Teitelbaum, the pioneering electronic music ...
Continue Reading
