Jeff Albert

Horn section from George Porter Jr.’s birthday gig 2008 with the Runnin’ Pardners. (l to r: Mark Mullins, Tracy Griffin, Jeff Albert)

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Dupuis.

New Orleans trombonist Jeff Albert releases Similar in the Opposite Way, a high-spirited and experimental quartet exploration.

Track Listing

Similar in the Opposite Way (mp3 excerpt)
I Was Just Looking for My Pants (mp3 excerpt)
9th Ward Trotsky (mp3 excerpt)
Subtle Flower (mp3 excerpt)
Chalk & Chocolate (mp3 excerpt)
Bag Full of Poboys (mp3 excerpt)
(Could Have Been a) Napkin (mp3 excerpt)
Folk Song (mp3 excerpt)
Morph My Cheese (mp3 excerpt)
Rooskie Cyclist (mp3 excerpt)

All compositions by Jeff Albert (BMI). All excerpts are 128k VBR mp3s.

Musicians:

Jeff Albert - trombone
Ray Moore - alto saxophone
Tom Sciple - bass
Dave Cappello - drums

Release date: January 27, 2009. Buy direct from the artist for $12.00, incuding US shipping. Also available from iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon, eMusic (coming soon), and others.

In conjunction with Fora Sound records, New Orleans-based trombonist and composer Jeff Albert is thrilled to announce the high-energy new release from his quartet. The ten tracks on offer thrust New Orleans back toward the genre-busting sounds so firmly associated with its proud heritage as Albert and company explore and reconstruct the boundaries between improvisation and composition.

When we think of New Orleans and the music emanating from that great city, the term “experimental” does not leap immediately to mind. Albert and his quartet will change all that. Albert grew up in the tradition, as it were. “I was a real J.J. Johnson fan, and for me, it was hard-core bebop for a while.” He also considers himself fortunate to perform with some of the artists that defined New Orleans’ classic funk and Rhythm and Blues sounds. His appearance on recordings such as Deacon John’s Jump Blues (alongside Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, and Wardell Quezergue), not to mention his work with George Porter and Gatemouth Brown, have given him invaluable insight into his city’s rich heritage. He maintains that his music demonstrates a strong allegiance to his home town, no matter how far out it may seem.

His musical vision expanded incrementally until the autumn of 2004, when his head was turned around at a Steve Swell Fire into Music performance. Similar in instrumentation if not in execution, the group afforded Albert a moment of evolution. Seeing the direction in which his music now lay, he formed the Jeff Albert quartet, recording the group’s debut album, One, within eight weeks of the Swell concert. The quartet currently features saxophonist Ray Moore, drummer Dave Cappello and bassist Tommy Sciple. These events also proved to be the impetus for the Open Ears Music Series, a Tuesday night concert series that hosts like-minded musicians from around the world. Albert claims influence from the Hungry Brain series in Chicago, whose aims and methods are similar.

Albert’s connection to Chicago goes far beyond emulation. After Katrina, he phoned up long-time friend Jeb Bishop, and the two of them agreed that Albert should come up and that they should form a group that joined New Orleans and Chicago forces. The Lucky 7s resulted, their first disc released in 2006 to great acclaim and a second on the way in 2009.

Similar in the Opposite Way brings what Albert labels the New Orleans/Chicago continuum into sharp focus. Albert insists that New Orleans is represented by the groove, and his assertion is born out by the funky slam of a track like “Bag Full of Poboys.” Cappello kicks it into action, Albert, Moore and Sciple digging into the slinkily catchy head with tasty slides and occasional vibrato associated with such New Orleans veterans as Johnny Dodds and Kid Ory. Playing just around the beat, relaxed but swinging with high energy, there is nevertheless a certain coolness and reserve that invokes Ken Vandermark’s projects, or the various Chicago Underground groups in their more introspective moments. At the melody’s conclusion, dissonance takes over, Albert’s composition entering Vandermark 5 territory, but by the time the solos begin, overt reference takes a back seat. Each soloist brings years of experience to bear on a compositional language in which innovation and tradition coexist without the need for obvious cross-reference.

“Poboys” might be seen as a blueprint for the album, which is a showcase for Albert’s varied compositional vision. There’s no denying the deep swing of the title track as it conjures reminiscences of “Miles’ Mode.” Yet, the dual soloing of Albert and Moore often invokes Stravinskian counterpoint over the solid groove laid down by Sciple and Cappello, the latter jumping on the neoclassical bandwagon with a few well-timed excursions into march rhetoric. Stravinsky rears his head more obviously on the brief and rhythmically amorphous “Chalk and Chocolate.” “I was just Looking for my Pants” runs the gamut from polyrhythmic cross-talk to sparse pointilisms and long-drawn ghost-tones, traversing style with jump-cut precision and humor. Then, there are the gorgeous chamber-jazz musings of “Subtle Flower,” it’s head almost a chant-like reverie of unisons in a style that Albert likens to a sort of ballad. Particularly effecting is when Sciple and Moore double the melody in octaves as Albert intertwines contrapuntal passages of exquisite intricacy, eschewing the normal group/soloist hierarchy in favor of a more collective feel. Harmony is never overt, but implications abound, enhanced by Albert and Moore’s warmth of tone and varied articulation.

Despite the strikingly cosmopolitan nature of these compositions, Albert insists that he designed them for the players. “I wanted to provide settings to stimulate improvisations with the goal of maintaining musical interest and diversity over the course of a performance.” This he has done, as each piece conjures a world of expression and dynamism. It’s the musicians that make this music work, as they were integral to its conception. The symbiotic relationship between composer and group, both informed by multiple geographical and musical influences, is the reason the album’s title is so appropriate. The Jeff Albert Quartet has fashioned a mature artistic statement that embraces tradition without ever being enslaved to it.

New Orleans Rolls On - eMusic Spotlight by Kevin Whitehead:

“Not that New Orleans musicians need to parade local influences. On Jeff Albert’s quartet album One, released three weeks before Katrina hit in 2005, his singing trombone, traces of Cuban and march rhythms, horn conversations and a drummer who likes to dig between the beats all speak to New Orleans roots. But the context is thoroughly modernist. Albert’s closer in spirit to free jazzer Roswell Rudd than Freddie Lonzo, and alto and tenor saxophonist Ray Moore has a scalding tone and ear for modern scales. Bassist Edwin Livingston dances around ex-New York drummer Dave Cappello, who’s blossomed in the last decade, down by the levees. New Orleans does that to people. That’s why folks keep coming back.”

These are improvised duos.  They are offered in 256k VBR mp3 format.

Dave Rempis (saxophones) and Jeff Albert (trombone). Recorded October 11, 2008 at Heaven Gallery in Chicago. This performance was part of the Chicago Calling Arts Festival.

Episode 1 (mp3)
Episode 2 (mp3)
Episode 3 (mp3)

Jeb Bishop (trombone) and Jeff Albert (trombone). Recorded October 9, 2008 at Elastic in Chicago.

Episode 1 (mp3)
Episode 2 (mp3)
Episode 3 (mp3)
Episode 4 (mp3)

One large zip file of all mp3s and the cover gif.

Image used on the cover was created by Flickr user Stuck in Customs.

This work by http://jeffalbert.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://jeffalbert.com.

There will be a new Jeff Albert Quartet CD out soon.  It will be called “Similar in the Opposite Way.”  We video taped bits of the recording session, and some conversations among the band.

I am happy to announce that we have just signed a deal with Clean Feed Records to release the Lucky 7s album Pluto Junkyard, which was recorded in July 2007 in Chicago. It should be released sometime in 2009.

This set of improvised music was recorded live at One to One Studios, a very cool art gallery and performance space, in Jackson, MS. on July 11, 2008. The musicians are: Bruce Golden (percussion), Jeb Stuart (bass and small instruments), and Jeff Albert (trombone and mutes). The files are 128k VBR mp3s.

Episode 1 (mp3)

Episode 2 (mp3)

Episode 3 (mp3)

Episode 4 (mp3)

This music free to share under a Creative
Commons Music Sharing License.

These were recorded live at One to One Studios, a very cool art gallery and performance space, in Jackson, MS. on July 11, 2008. This was either the first or second performance of each of these pieces. The musicians are Dave Cappello (drums), Ray Moore (alto sax, and other woodwind toys), Tommy Sciple (bass), and Jeff Albert (trombone). The files are 128k VBR mp3s.

I Was Just Looking For My Pants (mp3)

Subtle Flower (mp3)

(Could have Been a) Napkin/ Bag Full of Poboys (mp3)

This music free to share under a Creative
Commons Music Sharing License.

These were taken at One to One Studios in Jackson, MS on July 11, 2008 by Paul Fayard.

Bruce Golden (drums), Jeff Albert, and Jeb Stuart (bass)

The Quartet - Jeff, Dave, Tommy, and Ray on the very cool multi-level stage they have at One to One Studios.

I have new photos by Zack Smith. Some of the shots ended up in the online Media Kit, and I am sharing some of the more fun ones here.