Alto saxophonist Aram Shelton doesn’t hail from Chicago, but he spent his formative years in the city of broad shoulders and hard-blowing horn players, honing an aesthetic steeped in the visceral hurly burly of free jazz. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2005 to study at Mills College, he’s become an essential part of…
Read moreFrom out of Oakland, California comes the ensemble Arts & Sciences and their CDÂ New You(Singlespeed Music SSM-0010). It’s eclectic and electric with keys (Michael Coleman) tenor sax and effects (Matt Nelson), alto sax and flute (Jacob Zimmerman) and drums (Jordan Glenn) comprising the ensemble. This is composition-centered prog jazz. The press sheet cites Sun Ra,…
Read moreWhat I’ve always loved about Aram Shelton is his investigative ethos. He continually challenges himself and his fellow band mates within each composition. This is ever-present on his newest quartet release, Everything For Somebody. With his quartet, Shelton stays focused on a more traditional sound – a mixture of hard bop and avant garde that…
Read moreAram Shelton’s latest presents another strong set of material from an alto saxophonist who should be getting more recognition for his prolific output and busy schedule. While his release earlier this year of duets with drummer Kjell Nordeson might have been more of a specialized interest, Shelton’s quartet presents a full picture of his inventive…
Read moreI met Michael Coleman (the leader of Arts and Science) in Brussels quite a few years ago. He was on the usual European tourist trip with a friend of his – maybe Jordan Glenn, the drummer on this album? Michael told me about another interesting project called Schumann’s Humans, a group playing the music of…
Read moreAlto saxophonist Aram Shelton cannot break his Chicago habit. We’re not talking that monkey woman Joe Williams used to sing about, back in the day. Shelton, who left Chicago a few years back for the Bay area of California, returns to the windy city often, both physically and for its sound. His second quartet recording,…
Read moreAs the press release states, this is jazz music inspired by the likes of Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Mingus and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. I guess that looks like a tall order to fill, but Aram Shelton doesn’t fail you one second on this excellent release. It’s also – for those interested (like me)…
Read moreThe members of the Oakland, CA quartet Arts & Sciences all spent time in a conservatory or two. In addition to learning their instruments on campus, nearly all having logged time in the odd pop band tUnE-yArDs. They also all have an affinity for prog-flavord free improv and composition. In particular, they seem to have…
Read moreThe American west coast continues to bubble with urgency, at least on the improvised front, so we turn to Oakland, CA and the dynamic talents of a new quartet, Arts & Sciences. On their second release, New You, released on Aram Shelton’s Singlespeed Music (he also plays on one track), this quartet show that they…
Read moreNordeson Shelton is Aram Shelton on alto sax and Kjell Nordeson on drums. Incline (Singlespeed Music 009) is a set of freely improvised pieces by the duo. They found themselves working together in the San Francisco Bay area around 2005, first in a quartet on the Clean Feed album Cylinder, thereafter as the duo Nordeson…
Read more