(Free Jazz, Modern Creative) Side A (Ken Vandermark, Havard Wiik, Chad Taylor) - A New Margin - 2011, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

One needs a continuous RSS feel all its own to keep up with the number of projects saxophonist, clarinetist and composer Ken Vandermark is involved in these days. This is a comparatively new project, a collaborative one featuring Vandermark with Havard Wiik on piano and Chad Taylor on drums. It is interesting to hear Vandermark playing in a group with a pianist, and a bassless one no less. But it works really well, and the music is consistently fresh and interesting, drawing its inspiration from the "free-bop" of the late 1960's and adding thoroughly modern touches and flourishes. They come out of the gate hard with the pugilistic "Boxer" and "What Is Is." Vandermark cycles through a variety of horns throughout the album, creating a variety which is attuned to the nature of the music whether the uptempo tunes mentioned above or the slower and more abstract "Arborization" or "Permanent Sleeve (Walking Hand)." On these performances, the trio slows the pace, and allows the music to develop in an abstract, organic manner. The finish strong with the pulsing "Giacometti" bringing them full circle to the hot blooded fast and nimble jazz they began with. Vandermark is his usual excellent self through the album, giving his all whatever the instrument or the setting. Wiik, a member of the excellent Scandinavian jazz band Atomic, and Chad Taylor who is ubiquitous on the Chicago jazz scene are with him step for step, turning what could have been a soloist with accompaniment record into a true trio conversation. This was a consistently enjoyable and interesting album. The group plays with considerable passion and brings an air of freshness and joy to the proceedings. ~ tim niland, jazzandblues.com, october 15, 2011
In one of Ken Vandermark's many projects, he plays in "Free Fall", a trio format with Norwegian pianist Havard Wiik and Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten, as a tribute band to the music of Jimmy Giuffre. Now we find him again in the company of Wiik, but accompanied by Chicagoan Chad Taylor on drums. Like with Free Fall, this trio is also strongly rooted in jazz tradition, with fixed (?) rhythms, elaborated compositions and harmonic development. The musical skills demonstrated by all three musicians are staggering, both on their instruments as in the phenomenal interplay, yet as so often with great albums, the quality of the music itself is what really counts and it also receives their full attention. Wiik is a stylist, someone with a gentle touch, and strong sense of lyricism, and his combination with Vandermark's incredible skills of shifting from patterns to breaking them and back again in one seamless motion work well with Taylor's rhythmic complexities. Actually, all three excell in the key ingredients : lyricism, powerplay and tradition-pushing. The tunes range from sweet, as in "Trued Right", or abstract bluesy, as on "Arborization", to clever rhythm-shifting in the phantastic and genre-crossing "The Kreuzberg Variations" to powerplay on "Comeling". There is madness to be heard, yet controlled or contained, and joined with some more universal feelings as melancholy and tenderness. The variation is great, as are the compositions, almost equally divided among the members of the trio. The line-up is unusual too (check on the "Sax Piano Drums Trio" in the right column to get to know more of them), yet one that works extremely well because it offers harmonic, rhythmic and a wealth of solo opportunities, while keeping the improvisational freedom of a small ensemble.
In any case, great stuff, and not to be missed. ~ stef, freejazz.com, october 25, 2011
A Ken Vandermark record is always a welcomed addition in the JazzWrap office. And Vandermark's newest project, Side A is a massive inclusion to the catalog. The trio formed last year but somehow it feels like they've played together for much longer; Vandermark and Wiik have been together in various projects (Vandermark 5, Atomic/School Days, and Free Fall). A New Margin (Clean Feed), the trio's debut, is a document of their collaborative efforts over the last year. Side A kicks the proceedings off with the slow moving and haunting "Boxer." It's like a mystery ride that never seems to end and you're constantly turned on to some new element in the piece. Whether it's the plodding downward keys of Wiik, the sky-rocketing velocity of Vandermark on sax, or Taylor's free-wheeling movement on the kit--this is a journey that's going to take many different shapes before its done. "Arborizaltion" flows peacefully with each member improvising in between the space. It's not wild movements; more a steady pattern of ideas that all fold together in one harmonic gesture. When "The Kreuzberg Variations" first came on I was startled by the spacial depth of the piece. It's a classical movement as the title would suggest but with more owed to the Steve Reich motif than Brandenberg. The piece builds and builds until its boisterous conclusion where musician and sound collide in what is quite a beautiful noise. "Giacometti" is a blustery but euphoric number that sees the trio bouncing sound off each other. Taylor adds a delicate touch in the beginning, while Vandermark and Wiik create some vivid colour spectrums. This comes to a rousing denouement that nicely bookends the possession filled opening of the "Boxer." Side A is yet another in long list of progressive outings from Ken Vandermark and company that challenges the way we think of jazz and how it will expand. A New Margin is by far one Vandermark's best projects (outside of Vandermark 5) of the last 12 months. Great stuff. ~ stephan moore, jazzwrap.com, october 26, 2011
A top figure in the unique musical melting pot of Chicago, Ken Vandermark is a man of a thousand projects and bands, and many of them are different combinations of the musicians with whom he usually plays. Very fascinated by the highly creative Scandinavian jazz scene, a number of his musical partners come from that part of the world. Pianist Håvard Wiik is one of them – he’s part of the "joint venture" Free Fall, a collective co-founded by Wiik, Vandermark and Håker Flaten, but he's also part of the swedish seminal group Atomic. Now, they join again, and in the company of another prodigal son of the Windy City, Chad Taylor. Besides Taylor’s involvement in some of the most important formations of that jazz circuit- like the Chicago Underground Duo, Trio and Ensemble, Exploding Star Orchestra and Sticks and Stones- the drummer has also made himself internationally recognized through work with pop bands such as Sam Prekop's solo projects and Iron and Wine. The music composed by the trio, Side A, is anchored in the post-bop tradition and adopts the openness of free jazz with the energy coming from rock. The compositions are refined, but conceived only as frames for improvisation- this method gives it a fluid cutting edge. “A New Margin” is a new surprise coming from the never-ending creativity of these three superb musicians, and surely you won't want to miss it. ~ cleanfeed-records.com

Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone, clarinet
Håvard Wiik - piano
Chad Taylor - drums