Another Best of 2012 list: All About Jazz

Dan McClenaghan at All About Jazz has included my record Little Played Little Bird on his Best Releases of 2012 list. He had this to say:

“Drummer Todd Bishop is an underground treasure. He doesn't boast the highest of profiles, but he has put out two consecutive great CDs for the Origin Records label: 2009's 69 Annee Erotique and now, this nod to alto saxophonist/free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman.”

Thanks Dan!

First review: Little Played Little Bird @ Allaboutjazz.com

Hey, here's the first review of Little Played Little Bird [that's my new recording of the music of Ornette Coleman- have you heard?] from our good friend Dan McClenaghan at AllAboutJazz.com. Here's an excerpt, but go read the whole thing:

"Little Played Little Bird sounds unlike any set that Coleman has ever put together, despite the temptation to compare it to his Hidden Man and Sound Museum Three Women—simultaneously-released on his Harmolodic Records label in 1996—mostly because these overlooked gems in Coleman's discography included pianist Geri Allen. In terms of sound, Cole's baritone sax—fierce and growling on "Enfant"—recalls tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman's work during his Blue Note Records years with Coleman. Aside from that, the vision here is purely the Todd Bishop Group's.

For those with passing knowledge of the saxophonist/composer's sound, this wouldn't, on a blind listen, be recognizable as Coleman's music. For his ardent fans, the melodies are there, laid down with a compellingly original harmonic and rhythmic approach, with bassist Bill Athens—who is essential to the music's unqualified success—laying down a viscous and pulsating murk that flows through Bishop's idiosyncratic steam hiss cymbal sizzles and off-kilter but-tight drum work on this immaculate exploration of Ornette Coleman's music."

- Dan McClenaghan

CD review: 69 Année Érotique - Allaboutjazz.com (#2)

69 Annee Erotique (Allaboutjazz.com - published: April 20, 2009)
Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4 | Origin Records (2009)
By Dan McClenaghan

69 Annee Erotique gets extra credit for off-the-beaten-path-ness. It is a work celebrating the music of the late French pop songster Serge Gainsbourg (1928- 1991), by Portland Oregon-based Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4. Gainsbourg, whose name may not be person-on-the-street familiar in the United States, was a pop icon in France from the late-1950s to the 1980s, a musical renaissance man of sorts who delved into jazz, pop, reggae, soundtracks, psychedelia and electronica, all while nurturing a reputation for unseemliness and personal excess in the mode of California poet/writer Charles Bukowski, to whom he has been compared.

The sound that drummer/band leader Bishop has crafted is a curious mix of garage/surf rock and Phil Spector-like wall of sound production, with some gritty saxophone, a dash of Neil Young and Crazy Horse grunge, going with gusto after Gainsbourg's simple and engaging yet ofttimes Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys) type of pop song melodies.

Best of 2009: 69 Année Érotique - Allaboutjazz.com (#2)

Allaboutjazz.com's Dan McClenaghan put our 69 Année Érotique on his top ten CDs of 2009 list, along with albums by Jan Garbarek, Gary Peacock, Steve Kuhn, and Jessica Williams. Here's his introduction followed by our entry:

2009 was a fantastic year for music. Every disc on this list is a marvelous set of sounds. This is what keeps me excited about the art form.

Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4
69 Annee Erotique
Origin Records

A meticulously-crafted jazz/pop mix nod to the music of the late French musical Renaissance man, Serge Gainsbourg.

Dan's complete list after the break: