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LABEL SPOTLIGHT
Mutable Music
by Kurt Gottschalk
Singer Thomas Buckner has seen his sideline career as
a producer of events and recordings through a number
of changes over some 40 years and has been responsible
for a number of remarkable recordings, spanning
baroque to contemporary classical, jazz and improvised
music and the realms between. He’s shifted from a
focus on local musicians and composers as director of
the 1750 Arch record label and performance series in
Los Angeles to an international focus with the Mutable
Music label and Interpretations concert series in New
York. And not incidentally, he has worked as a singer
with many of the artists he has presented.
He has gone from working in the somewhat
traditional world of classical music in Los Angeles to
the grayer and sometimes more challenging spheres of
improvisation and new music. And, perhaps less by
his own choice, he has seen his job as record label
director through LPs, CDs and now digital downloads.
In October of last year, Buckner announced that
Mutable would be going the route of Internet releases,
with CD-Rs available for sale but no more proper CDs
being pressed.
“We’ve had low sales of CDs,” Buckner said. “The
only part of our business that has grown is the
downloads. Sales for CDs has been very low except for
artists who take them on the road and sell them to their
following. We’re not making CDs but we are making
Beyond the Boundary of Time
Revolutionary Ensemble
LISTEN UP!
Spectrum
Abrams/Mitchell
Born in Richmond, CA, JUSTIN BROWN is dazzling
audiences around the world with his unique style and
musical sensibility. He was the Second Place winner in
the 2012 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Drums
Competition. Determined to be suitable for any musical
style, at 29 he is a regular member of the Gerald
Clayton Trio, Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet and has
performed and toured with notable artists like Kenny
Garrett, Vijay Iyer, Yosvany Terry, Gretchen Parlato,
Esperanza Spalding and Terence Blanchard.
Teachers: Wilson Brooks, Darrell Green, Howard
Wiley, Geechi Taylor, Yosvany Terry, Christian McBride.
Influences: Tony Williams, J.Dilla, Georgia Anne
Muldrow, Reggie Watts, African music, Gospel.
Current Projects: I’m in the process of recording to
release videos and a solo EP.
By Day: Practicing, writing and striving to have a
higher level of consciousness.
I knew I wanted to be a musician when... I was tall
enough to reach the hi-hat pedal. Drummers who
started off as toddlers know what I mean.
Dream Band: At this point of my life my live band
would be a configuration of Fabian Almazan, Robert
Glasper or David Bryant on Fender Rhodes; Burniss
Travis, Stephen Bruner, Derrick Hodge or Joe Sanders
12 May 2013 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
CD-Rs for each record we put out. We’re only making
50 at a time but the idea is when an order comes in
we’ll make them as needed.”
Mutable’s first digital releases - perhaps
unsurprisingly - hold close to his own aesthetic as a
performer, including titles by saxophone great Roscoe
Mitchell, the legendary jazz trio Revolutionary
Ensemble, new music electronicist/composer Richard
Teitelbaum and his own recording of compositions by
Earl Howard and JD Parran, plus an improvisation by
Howard and himself.
It can be hard for digital releases to get the attention
of reviewers and the listening public. Buckner himself
said that he has concerns. “We have a lot of musicians
who are very active,” he said, “but absolutely I’m
worried about it.” If one of the new releases will
manage to get critics and fans to overlook the lack of a
physical product in stores, it’s likely Not Yet, Mitchell’s
new and richly diverse release.
Mutable released one of Mitchell’s most remarkable
albums outside his venerable Art Ensemble of Chicago.
The 2004 triple-CD set Solo 3 (one of six Mutable titles
Mitchell has appeared on) contains - as the title would
imply - a variety of solo performances, running
through the saxophone family, at times multi-tracked,
and a full disc of percussion pieces.
Not Yet is an entirely different affair, putting
Mitchell the composer in the spotlight. It does begin, in
a sense, where Solo 3 ended, with a percussion piece,
but this time played by the fantastic William Winant. It
continues on with a piano/saxophone duo, a string
quartet, a piece for Buckner with chamber orchestra
on bass; Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet; Lionel
Loueke, Charles Altura or Matthew Stevens on guitar
and Mark Shim on wind controller.
Did you know? I played bass and organ in church for
a year when I was 16.
For more information, visit twitter.com/drumbrownie.
Brown is at The Jazz Gallery May 3rd-4th as a leader, May
9th with Pascal Le Boeuf and Smalls May 20th with Mike
Moreno. See Calendar.
Justin Brown
A Magical Approach
Jerome Cooper
Jon De Lucia
JON DE LUCIA is a Brooklyn-based saxophonist and
composer. Predominantly a student of jazz, he also has
a deep interest in the folkloric music and instruments
of Cuba, Japan, Ireland and Italy, having performed on
a variety of ethnic flutes, drums and stringed
instruments. Recently he has explored early music
with his ensemble the Luce Trio, while playing
straightahead swing regularly and focusing on
and two arrangements of Mitchell’s often revisited
study “Nonaah”, one for chamber orchestra and the
other played by James Fei’s saxophone quartet.
Mitchell has had other releases featuring his
composed works on such labels as Lovely Music, Ltd.
and Rogue Art. And like those labels, Mutable isn’t
fixed on set ideas of style and pigeonholes into which
artists fit.
“A lot of the work I do is composed,” Mitchell
said. “It’s all become blurred. The word that never
goes away is ‘improvisation’. That’s the new thing, but
it’s a big thing. I always advise my students to study
composition and improvisation at the same time.
[Making the CD] was a great opportunity for me
because Mills College offered to do a night of my
compositions. For me it’s an honor to get a night like
that documented. I’m honored that people would think
I could have a CD like this.”
Mitchell’s association with Buckner goes back to
the 1750 Arch days and, in fact, some of the singer’s
finest recordings have been of Mitchell’s compositions.
Mitchell said he supports Mutable’s shift to a digital
format. “I think it’s a great move,” he said. “All the
technology moves so fast, it’s hard for me to keep up. I
mean, I’m 72 years old. I came up on 78 records. But
Mutable is a great label. When you take a look at the
whole history of it, it’s enormous, the work that they’ve
done, all the way back to 1750.”
Another name Buckner has shown a dedication to
in the world of jazz is the Revolutionary Ensemble.
The trio of violinist Leroy Jenkins, bassist Sirone and
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 46)
Counterparts
Revolutionary Ensemble
teaching.
Not Yet: Six Compositions
Roscoe Mitchell
Teachers: Lee Konitz, George Garzone, Greg Osby, Joe
Lovano, Shannon LeClaire and many more!
Influences: JS Bach, Lee Konitz, Paul Desmond, Jimmy
Giuffre, Steve Coleman, David Bowie.
Current Projects: Jon De Lucia Group with guitarist
Greg Ruggiero, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer
Tommy Crane; Luce Trio with guitarist Ryan Ferreira
and Chris Tordini; Background Music with saxophonist
Kyle Wilson, bassist Aidan O’Donnell and drummer
Mark Farnsworth; Duo Project with drummer Flin van
Hemmen.
By Day: Teaching, selling wine, practicing music and
Tai Chi.
I knew I wanted to be a musician when... I got together
and practiced with a small group of friends in 5th
grade and we all ended up going to Berklee College of
Music.
Dream Band: Ted Brown, Leroy Vinnegar, Paul Motian.
Did you know? I cure meats and make sausages and
various cheeses.
For more information, visit jondelucia.com. Lucia is at
Sycamore May 4th and Korzo May 14th. See Calendar.