(Modern Creative / Post-Bop / Songlines) Jerry Granelli & Badlands - Crowd Theory - 1999, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Drummer Jerry Granelli has always been a conceptual jazz musician. After early associations with Denny Zeitlin, Vince Guaraldi, and Ralph Towner his solo projects took on novel qualities, both for their storytelling and unique aspects. The 1992 recording A Song I Thought I Heard Buddy Sing utilized Michael Ondaatje's Coming Through Slaughter, a fictionalized biography of Buddy Bolden, the very real New Orleans jazz trumpeter was the basis for a tour of the first 100 years of jazz. Subsequent projects like UFB with its two-guitar lead have honored Native Americans, and work with Julian Priester and Ira Jane Bloom paint music often outside the jazz palate.
His most recent project, Badlands, finds Granelli working with a mostly a New York Downtown lineup. Crowd Theory, recorded at the Knitting Factory, is a follow up to the 1998 Enter, A Dragon. Either the Downtowners have finally caught up to Granelli's music views or he to their's. Badlands reminds one of the various working groups of Tim Berne and Wayne Horvitz. Granelli pulls Chris Speed from Bloodcount and Briggan Krause from Pig Pen. Like Messrs. Horvitz and Berne, Granelli's Badlands features group improvisation, as opposed to a solo followed by a solo. His compositions are fully formed for the septet. Horns dominate the title piece stating a pastoral theme through an interwoven line. He works through "Tango" accenting the whimsy with a darker percussive beat. Badlands handles a typical downtown funk in "Yutz" and an ambient soundscape in "Cloud." Keeping tabs on the players is often difficult. Speed's darting tenor lines contrast with Kraus' paint peeler of a horn. Maybe Curtis Hasselbring's trombone along with Granelli's drumkit is the unifying force behind this outfit. Covering Wayne Horvitz's "The Front," a song familiar to Knitting Factory fans, brings this project into the clearest light. Granelli as a musical arranger excels in placing the right musician in just the right spot, for the right song, a truly Ellingtonian characteristic. ~ Mark Corroto, AAJ

Crowd Theory documents the second outing by Jerry Granelli's Badlands, a group which finds the venerable drummer surrounded by a fiery band of young Brooklynites: reedists Chris Speed, Peter Epstein, and Briggan Krauss, trombonist Curtis Hasselbring, keyboardist Jamie Saft, and bassist J. Anthony Granelli. All formidable leaders and composers, these musicians bring to the table technical ability and musical empathy that elevates them far above mere sidemen to equal partners inGranelli's musical vision. The majority of the album is spent expertly treading a line between group improvisation and exacting composition. Many of the tracks find the theme prefaced by an extended improvisation by some or all of the players and extended solos are, as often as not, traded for wild romps demanding full participation of the entire group. Standout selections include the title track, by saxophonist Peter Epstein, which opens with a bittersweet melody that the horn section wastes no time in frantically extrapolating upon, before yielding to the composer, who blows a solo both challenging and soulful. Granelli's "Tango is perhaps the most straightforward tune on the record, showcasing a beautiful theme and lyrical solos by Saft and Krauss. J. Anthony Granelli contributes several delightfully playful compositions, especially the pure downtown funk of "Yutz," as the rhythm section grooves hard in 17/4 while the horns blow an agitated off-kilter melody. Ominous tone clusters and quietly menacing cymbals figure prominently in Granelli's "Cloud," which offers some peaceful closure to the wild proceedings of the record. The remarkable coherency of Crowd Theory is clear testament to Granelli's abilities as a bandleader, but make no mistake: this is far from a leader and a gang of competent sideman, but rather a powerful ensemble record. ~ Tom Benton, AMG

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 8. April 2009, 21:27
Jerry Granelli & Badlands / Crowd Theory
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1 | 0:00.00 | 7:16.49 | 0 | 32748
2 | 7:16.49 | 8:39.65 | 32749 | 71738
3 | 15:56.39 | 8:00.00 | 71739 | 107738
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Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Igor\My Documents\My Music\eac\Jerry Granelli & Badlands - Crowd Theory.wav
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AccurateRip summary
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