Ellman, Liberty / Ophiuchus Butterfly
Album: Ophiuchus Butterfly   Collection:Jazz
Artist:Ellman, Liberty   Added:May 2006
Label:Pi Recordings  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2006-05-21 Pull Date: 2006-07-23 Charts: Jazz
Week Ending: Jul 23 Jul 16 Jul 9 Jun 25 Jun 4 May 28
Airplays: 1 1 1 1 2 3

Recent Airplay
1. Jul 21, 2006: Memory Select
You Have Ears
4. Jun 23, 2006: Memory Select
Pretty Words, Like Blades
2. Jul 14, 2006: Memory Select
Ophiuchus Butterfly
5. Jun 02, 2006: Memory Select
Ophiuchus Butterfly
3. Jul 07, 2006: Memory Select
Chromos
6. May 30, 2006: Umami Jazz Program
Pretty Words, Like Blades

Album Review
Craig Matsumoto
Reviewed 2006-05-19
Very modern jazz, accessible but packed with what you could call 21st-century attitude: really twisty writing, occasional noise experiments (3,10), and unconventional structures. Not a difficult listen but lots of fast twists permeate some compositions; Tim Berne's stuff would be a good comparison, but this feels more kinetic, like a molecule lightly bouncing off padded walls.

Ellman himself spins speedy, fluid guitar solos that tangle through jazz changes like he's translating another language. Steve Lehman on sax adds a futuristic (albeit acoustic) touch with his fast stacatto lines. Mark Shim on tenor sax tethers things back to earthier conventional jazz.

1- Marshmallow cannon fire of mid/fast burst notes stacked with counterpoint. Upbeat twisty post-bop, a nice attention-getter.
2- Slow, w/*really* warbling sax solo. Lovely melodies later.
3- A long shimmer; floating ethereal tones.
4- Easygoing start, into midtempo stumbling and fast solos
5- Mid/fast, some complex overlapping lines
6- Zen synth bells, into a cool rhythmic jam. Relaxed, angular sax lines atop
7- Weirdly violin-like intro. Cartoony march theme, mid/fast. Cool trading sax solos, then a drum solo and slowish end
8- Tuneful but fast and twisty. Mid/fast.
9- Cascading falling lines, midtempo. Tuba solo! Later, crazy *fast* sax solos chase each other.
10- Noise: Slow, grinding, understated

Track Listing
1. Ophiuchus Butterfly   6. Pretty Words, Like Blades
2. Aestivation   7. Tarmacadam
3. Snow Lips   8. Looking Up
4. You Have Ears   9. Chromos
5. The Naturalists   10. Borealis