Joe Rosenberg Ensemble

MARSHLAND • Quark Records QR201925

Joe Rosenberg (ss), Bart Maris (tpt, flg), Daniel Erdmann (ss, ts), Arnault Cuisinier (b), Edward Perraud (ds)

JAZZ N MORE PEANUTS • Jurg Solothummann • May 2020 ★★★★

Cool, aber risikofreudig. Der Bostoner Sopransaxo­ phonist Rosenberg (*1955) lebt seit den 1990er­ Jahren vorwiegend in Südostasien und in Paris und jede seiner CDs ist anders. Hier erweitert er sein Trio mit zwei Bläsern. Klanglich dem Westcost Jazz verpflichtet und verwandt mit Persönlichkeiten wie John Carter und Bill Dixon, vertritt er gestalterisch und emotional eine kammermusikalische Position zwischen Tonalität und Pantonalität und mit ge­ schriebenem und improvisiertem Kontrapunkt. Die CD gewinnt Geschlossenheit, indem Rosenberg die zwei Themen ”Marshland” und ”La Danse” je in drei sehr verschiedenen Verarbeitungen präsentiert. Nach Anfängen mit gedämpften ausgehaltenen Clustern, Loops oder vibrierenden Klangflächen entwickelt sich ein kollektives Geflecht von Linien mit ähnli­ chem Charakter wie Jimmy Giuffres freie Aufnah­ men. Der lebhafte Sopransaxophon­Ausbruch in ”Funazushi” erinnert an Eric Dolphy, einen anderen Einfluss. Ein Höhepunkt ist eine verwickelte Impro­ visation der zwei Sopransaxophone. Manchmal mehrteilig haben alle acht Stücke eine klare Linie und bleiben transparent, sogar wenn mehrere zu­ sammen improvisieren. Backgrounds hinter den Solisten leiten über zum nächsten Teil oder zum Schluss. Besonders in den beiden letzten Tracks dominieren lange mehrstimmige Arrangements. Relaxed sorgen Cuisinier und Perraud für ein soli­ des Fundament, und der Bassist engagiert sich auch solistisch.

Cool, but willing to take risks. The Boston soprano saxophonist Rosenberg (* 1955) has lived mainly in Southeast Asia and Paris since the 1990s and each of his CDs is different. Here he expands his trio with two wind instruments. Sound-wise committed to Westcost Jazz and related to personalities such as John Carter and Bill Dixon, he represents a chamber music position in terms of design and emotion between tonality and pantonality and with a written and improvised counterpoint. The CD gains unity in that Rosenberg presents the two themes “Marshland” and “La Danse” each in three very different versions. After beginnings with subdued clusters, loops or vibrating sound surfaces, a collective network of lines with a similar character to Jimmy Giuffres free recordings developed. The lively soprano saxophone burst in “Funazushi” is reminiscent of Eric Dolphy, another influence. A highlight is an intricate improvisation of the two soprano saxophones. Sometimes all eight pieces have a clear line and remain transparent, even if several improvise together. Backgrounds behind the soloists lead to the next part or to the end. Long polyphonic arrangements dominate especially in the last two tracks. Relaxed, Cuisinier and Perraud provide a solid foundation, and the bassist is also involved in soloing.

IMPROJAZZ • Philippe Renaud • April 2020

"La musique n’est que la division de l’espace" (Reggie Watts). Sans doute la phrase imprimée dans la pochette de ce disque du Joe Rosenberg Ensemble s’applique parfaitement à la musique jouée ici. Le saxophoniste est ici entouré par les fidèles Arnaud Cuisinier (contrebasse) et Edward Perraud (batterie), que l’on retrouve sur plusieurs de ses productions depuis quelques années déjà. A chaque disque il invite des musiciens différents, souvent français, tels Didier Petit (sur "Tomorrow never knows", Bruno Angelini (sur "Rituals and legends"), Jean Luc Guionnet, Olivier Py, Médéric Collignon (sur "Danse de la Fureur"). On l’aura compris, Joe est francophile et aime enregistrer en France. Il en parle d’ailleurs très bien dans l’interview qu’il avait donné à Philippe Alen pour Improjazz (et publié en deux parties dans les n°s 220 et 221, nov/décembre 2015 – janvier 2016). Pour "Marshland", il fait appel à nouveau à Daniel Erdmann (le second tiers de Das Kapital) au ténor et au soprano, ainsi qu’au trompettiste belge Bart Maris. Cette formation nous permet donc d’entendre trois souffleurs pour de courtes pièces à la structure parfaite. Jeu à l’unisson, échappées de l’un ou de l’autre, parfois les deux sopranos ensemble, avec une rythmique relativement discrète mais bien présente et qui peut s’exprimer par exemple en introduction d’un titre comme "Funazushi" pour introduire un soprano très râpeux et volubile. Edward Perraud utilise comme à son habitude une foule de percussions appropriées, le trompettiste multiplie les sons en notes répétées à l’envi ("La danse deux"), alors que dans ce même titre les deux saxophonistes dialoguent en chassés croisés lumineux. Le titre de l’album est décliné dans trois versions qui, après exposition collective du thème, laissent place à la liberté, à l’espace cité plus haut. Une musique joyeuse, dynamique, parfaitement maitrisée et interprétée par un quintet soudé, une musique de quarante minutes (suffisant) , construite de manière intelligente par un maitre en la matière.

"Music is just the division of space" (Reggie Watts). Without doubt the phrase printed in the cover of this disc by the Joe Rosenberg Ensemble applies perfectly to the music played here. The saxophonist is here surrounded by the faithful Arnaud Cuisinier (double bass) and Edward Perraud (drums), which have been found on several of his productions for several years already. On each disc he invites different musicians, often French, such as Didier Petit (on "Tomorrow never knows", Bruno Angelini (on "Rituals and legends"), Jean Luc Guionnet, Olivier Py, Médéric Collignon (on "Dance of the Fury "). As you can see, Joe is a Francophile and likes to record in France. He also speaks very well about it in the interview he had given to Philippe Alen for Improjazz (and published in two parts in the n ° s 220 and 221, Nov / December 2015 - January 2016) For "Marshland", he again calls on Daniel Erdmann (the second third of Das Kapital) for tenor and soprano, as well as Belgian trumpet player Bart Maris. This training therefore allows us to hear three blowers for short pieces with perfect structure. Play in unison, escaped from one or the other, sometimes the two sopranos together, with a relatively discreet rhythm but very present and which can be expressed for example in the introduction a title like "Funazushi" to introduce a very gritty and talkative soprano. Edward Perraud uses, as usual, a host of appropriate percussions, the trumpeter multiplies the sounds in repeated notes with envy ("Dance two"), while in this same title the two saxophonists dialogue in light cross hunters. The album title is available in three versions which, after collective exposure of the theme, give way to freedom, to the space mentioned above. Joyful, dynamic music, perfectly mastered and interpreted by a welded quintet, forty-minute music (sufficient), intelligently constructed by a master in the matter.

CITIZEN JAZZ • Nicola Dourlhes • April 2020

Saxophoniste soprano, Joe Rosenberg dirige un ensemble à géométrie variable qui a signé le disque Ritual & Legends en 2016, suivi en 2017 de Tomorrow Never Knows également chez Quark Records. Aujourd’hui débarrassé de tout instrument harmonique (exit Bruno Angelini), l’Américain s’entoure d’un second saxophoniste en la personne de Daniel Erdmann et de la trompette de Bart Maris. Cette section de soufflants étoffée apporte ainsi une dimension immanquablement orchestrale sans pour autant contraindre le collectif à une pratique trop dirigiste.

Le long des huit plages de ce disque plutôt court (moins de quarante minutes), ils amalgament leur timbre avec un soin particulier. S’ils ne donnent rien de nouveau à entendre dans les couleurs, ils le font toutefois avec un raffinement dans les textures et un équilibre dans les volumes. La trompette de Maris joue le rôle d’aiguillon en papillonnant autour de tous avec un plaisir volubile qui allège le propos général.On parcourt alors de nombreux territoires sensuels et brûlants : ceux d’un free ouvert aux événements comme ceux d’un swing robuste où chacun y va d’une salve incendiaire. Entrouvrant les portes d’un monde décrispé et apaisé, un son plus lascif s’épanouit enfin sur des canevas parfaitement maîtrisés.

Si la rythmique de l’ensemble reste inchangée depuis les disques précédents, c’est certainement qu’elle constitue le moteur de l’ensemble. La batterie d’Edward Perraud bien sûr, riche d’un éventail de propositions tour à tour ouvertes ou plus rythmiquement cadrées, alimente la dynamique générale de l’orchestre. La basse d’Arnault Cuisinier, surtout, est le pilier inamovible autour duquel tout s’organise. Une assise puissante dans le son et une justesse permanente des interventions dans les intentions comme dans la mise en place en font un solide partenaire.

Soprano saxophonist Joe Rosenberg directs a variable geometry ensemble that signed the record Ritual & Legends in 2016 (Elu Citizen Jazz), followed in 2017 by Tomorrow Never Knows also at Quark Records. Now free of any harmonic instrument (exit Bruno Angelini), the American surrounds himself with a second saxophonist in the person of Daniel Erdmann and the trumpet of Bart Maris. This expanded section of blowers thus brings an inevitably orchestral dimension without, for all, forcing the collective to a practice that which is too interventionist.

Along the eight tracks of this rather short disc (less than forty minutes), they combine their timbre with particular care. If they do not give anything new to hear in the colors, they do so with a refinement in the textures and a balance in the volumes. Maris' trumpet plays the role of a spur, fluttering around everyone with a voluble pleasure that lightens the general subject.  We then travel through many sensual and burning territories: those of free, open to events, like those of a robust swing, where everyone goes with an incendiary salvo. Partially opening the doors to a relaxed and peaceful world, a more lascivious sound finally blossoms on a perfectly mastered canvas.

If the rhythm of the ensemble remains unchanged from the previous records, it is certainly because of the driving force of the ensemble. Edward Perraud's drums, of course, rich in a range of alternately open or more rhythmically framed proposals, fuel the general dynamics of the orchestra.  Arnault Cuisinier's bass, above all, is the immovable pillar around which everything is organized. A powerful base, in the sound and a permanent correctness of the interventions in the intentions as in the installation, make it a solid partner.

CADENCE MAGAZINE • Don Lerman • April 2020

Three horns interacting freely and as well as in tandem are a main feature of this latest recording (3) from soprano saxophonist Joe Rosenberg. Bassist Arnault Cuisinier and drummer Edward Perraud, who also performed on Rosenberg's previous 2016 release "Tomorrow Never Knows" (Quark Records), are alone on "Marshland deux," which gives some context to the remaining cuts utilizing the full quintet. In this version of his ensemble, Rosenberg has added a trumpet and another saxophone (compared to himself and a cello on the front line in the previous recording), and on "La Danse" long tones from the three horns generate intriguing chords above a quiet and subtle rhythmic floor from Cuisinier and Perraud. The three horns (Rosenberg, Daniel Erdmann, and Bart Maris) play contrapuntal lines on "Marshland," spare weighty unison figures on "Long and Short of It," and briskly-moving lines with rich and/or complex harmonies backed well by bass and drums on "Marshland trois." More harmonic lines from the horns may be heard on the more contemplative "Amelia" in quite melodious form. "Funazushi" presents the ensemble in a freer and developing mode for nearly eight minutes, with the two soprano saxes sparring near the end and closing together with a flourish.

JAZZ PODIUM • Benno Bartsch • February 2020

Boston-based soprano saxophonist Joe Rosenberg shuttles back and forth between Paris and Hong Kong and combines American jazz with Asian and African music-making practices, but not in a conglomerate superficial style, but rather in the sense of John Coltrane, with Asian and African influences as if they were a chemical connection entered into the jazz, and make a new material.

Rosenberg's recordings, with his drummer and friend Edward Perraud's Quark Records label, since 2014 are closely related and are all characterized by a philosophical-spiritual element. In addition to Rosenberg, Perraud and the bassist Arnaut Cuisinier, the current CD features trumpeter and flugelhorn player Bart Maris and tenor and soprano saxophonist Daniel Erdmann.

The program contains a coherent suite, which is spanned by a programmatic framework. The first piece “La Danse” begins with a broad stream of sound consisting of long notes, with a painted cymbal, bells and other sounds. What sounds like free improvisation at the moment, is structurally planned, Joe Rosenberg shows on his website the composition of this piece with long- quality notes, which the instrumentalists freely adorned and decorated. “Marshland” comes here as a fugato, with closely related, imitating wind parts. “Long and Short Of It” is based on two repeated chords in 5/4 time, which form the basis of the improvisations. These two chords constantly change colors like a kaleidoscope.

"Amelia" begins with a wonderful Rosenberg solo, in trio with the rhythm team, from which a theme crystallizes as quintessence. The last piece “Marshland Trois” consists only of a four minute, highly complex subject without any improvisation, but that sounds like an improvisation. This closes the arc of the various degrees of freedom that are realized in this program.

Rosenberg designs musical spaces that give the individual a lot of freedom, but are still based on pre-planned structures and give each piece a very special dramaturgy. Many musical possibilities are explored, and none of the pieces resembles another. This gives the whole thing a lot of excitement and tonal variety. The music never comes out harsh or aggressive, but exudes a great calm. You can literally hear musical thinking. Very beautiful, this dialectic packed with music of relaxed planning and maximum freedom.

ALL ABOUT JAZZ • Jerome Wilson • January 2020

Soprano saxophonist Joe Rosenberg seems to try out a new configuration of his Ensemble every time he records. On his previous release, Tomorrow Never Knows (Quark, 2017) he led a quintet with cello and piano in the front line. On this new effort, he changes to a three-horn format with trumpeter  Bart Maris and tenor/soprano saxophonist  Daniel Erdmann joining in, along with the holdover rhythm section of bassist Arnault Cuisinier and drummer Edward Perraud.

The group's music goes in several different directions on this album. "La Danse" starts as a slow, massed drone, with Maris emerging as the lead voice, then abruptly changes into a hard-blowing romp where the horns wail over furious walking bass. "Long and Short of it" sounds like a  Philip Glass composition in slow motion, an experiment in minimalism with the group repeating flattened patterns of pulsing notes, and individual instruments briefly coming into focus with brief soliloquies. "Fanazushi" begins with Rosenberg's soprano wriggling out of a field of spaced bass plucks and percussive slaps. Then Maris and Erdmann seep into the mix, creating a rowdy group tension. Maris' squealing trumpet stands out as it squabbles with the saxophones while the tempo increases.

A second "La Danse" features Rosenberg and Erdmann weaving high, frenzied soprano lines together with minimal support from the rest of the quintet. "Amelia" starts with Rosenberg's melodic ambles over Cuisinier's and Perrault's tumbling backdrop, and coalesces into a more conventional romantic ballad when the rest of the group join in. There are three different pieces called "Marshland" which together sound like they could have been Third Stream experiments by a composer such as Jimmy Giuffre. The first is a rippling confluence of trumpet, tenor and soprano lines. The second is a rattling and thumping duet for bass and drums. The third brings the entire quintet together for a strong climax to the CD, as the horns dart around each other, playing shrill harmonies over a free-falling rhythmic background.

Rosenberg's compositions here sound fresh and constantly surprising, and his group is up to the challenge of performing them. The horn parts are played with finesse, power and humor, and the rhythm section, particularly Arnault Cusinier, does a great job of keeping the music grounded. This is another stimulating and intelligent effort from a saxophonist with a restless and adventurous spirit.

REVUE & CORRIGÉE • Joel Pagier • December 2019

S'il est toujours plaisant d'entendre Coltrane, Mingus ou Eliington, force nous est d’admettre que depuis bien longtemps, le jazz se mord la queue et se satisfait de dedites et autres hommages plus ou moins narcissiques. Libéré un temps de ses codes, uni au rock, au classique ou à l'électronique, sans oublier sa main sur les « musique du monde », il avance masques sous divers atours, sans briser autant ses liens archaïques. Les chercheurs ont bien tenté de scanner sa carcasse pour y découvrir les pistes de nouvelles explorations, mais ils n'ont le plus souvent de recontrer, dans l'expression la plus immédiate de cette musique moribonde, un réel motif de plaisir, à peine tempéré. par l'orthoxie du propos...

Tous les deux ans, vers la même époque, Joe Rosenberg nous fait pavenir un disque de jazz affranchi de la prétention à l'innovation. Sa musique, fondée sur l'évidence des mélodies, la souplesse du rythme et l'intelligence des harmonies, s’en remet en grand partie à la pertinence d'instrumentistes rompus à l'exercice et libres de traiter comme ils l’entendent, la matière première de ses compositions.

S’y croisent donc, autour du soprano du leader et des fûts et cymbales d'Edward Perraud, compagnon de la premiere heure et initiateur du Label Quark où paraît le présent Marshland, les saxophones ténor et soprano de Daniel Erdmann, souffleur allemand partageant avec le batteur les dérives de le trio Das Kapital, le trompettiste belge Bart Maris, partenaire du percussionniste au sein du sextet 69, et last but not least, le contrebassiste français Arnaud Cuisinier, fidèle à Rosenberg depuis la création de l'Ensemble en 2014.

Tous gens de bonne intelligence, adhérant au projet pour mieux le soutenir ou l’ébranler. « La Danse », longue tresse de lignes étirées sur la dureé, tisse dès l'ouverture la richesse ondoyante d'une toile harmonique proche de ce Third Stream empruntant au classique. Pourtant, dès la cinquième minute de cette même plage, la basse et les percussions insufflent soudain à l'ensemble une pulsation ternaire ne laissant aucun doute sur l'esthétique adoptée, laquelle en dépit de quelques pas de côté va déterminer le style de l'album. Les musiciens du quintette ne manquent au demeurant ni d’à-propos, ni d'une certaine audace pour affirmer leur statut d'artistes créatifs dans cet exercice périlleux aux conséquences multiples qu'est l'appropriation des compositions. De courses contrapuntiques en duos rythmiques, cadences ou ballades légèrement instables ou franchement décalées, chacun trouve sa place dans les espaces ouverts par le compositeur, et peut dès lors imprimer sa marque dans la densité de l'œuvre en cours, sans que l’on puisse jamais douter de sa singularité .

Si l'on accepte le précepte d'Ellington selon lequel il n'est ni de grande nide  petite, mais simplement une bonne et une mauvaise musique, et si l'on refuse également cette dichotomie entre œuvres savantes et populaires, écrites ou improvisées, voire innovantes ou traditionnelles, ce Marshland de Joe Rosenberg et de son Ensemble , qui s’inscrit dans le cercle des albums accomplis et réalisés avec sincérité mérite amplement, l'écoute de ceux qui, d’aventure, apprécieraient un jazz de bonne facture et de grande sensibilité.

If it is always pleasant to hear Coltrane, Mingus or Ellington, we have to admit that for a long time, jazz has bitten its tail and is satisfied with repetitions and other more or less narcissistic tributes. Freed for a time from its codes, united to rock, classic or electronic, without forgetting its hand on "World Music", it advances masked under various guises, without breaking its archaic ties. Researchers have tried to scan its carcass to find avenues for new exploration, but most often it has only resulted in a return of the same, or the abstraction of concepts without soul or flesh. It is therefore all the more disturbing to find, in the most immediate expression of this dying music, a real reason for pleasure, barely tempered by the orthodoxy of the subject ...

Every two years, around the same time, Joe Rosenberg sends us a jazz disc freed from the pretension of innovation. His music, based on the obviousness of the melodies, the flexibility of the rhythm and the intelligence of the harmonies, largely relies on the relevance of instrumentalists experienced in the exercise and free to treat as they see fit, the raw material of his compositions. 

So there, around the leader's soprano and the drums and cymbals of Edward Perraud, companion from the start and initiator of the Label Quark where the present Marshland appears , the tenor and soprano saxophones of Daniel Erdmann, German blower sharing with the drummer the drifts of the trio Das Kapital, the Belgian trumpeter Bart Maris, partner of the percussionist within the sextet 69, and last but not least, the French double bass player Arnaud Cuisinier, faithful to Rosenberg since the Ensemble's creation in 2014.

All people of good intelligence, adhering to the project to better support or shake it. "La Danse", a long braid of lines stretched over time, weaves from the opening the undulating richness of a harmonic canvas close to this Third Stream borrowing from the classical. However, from the fifth minute of this same track, the bass and percussion suddenly breathe into the whole a ternary pulsation leaving no doubt about the adopted aesthetic, which despite a few steps aside will determine the style of the album. The musicians of the quintet are not lacking, moreover, nor of a certain audacity to assert their status as creative artists in this perilous exercise with multiple consequences which is the appropriation of the compositions. Contrapuntal races in rhythmic duets, cadences or ballads slightly unstable or frankly offset, each one finds its place in the spaces opened by the composer, and can therefore imprint its mark in the density of the work in progress, without any can never doubt its singularity.

If we accept Ellington's precept that it is neither great nor small, but simply good and bad music , and if we also refuse this dichotomy between learned and popular works, written or improvised , even innovative or traditional, this Marshland by Joe Rosenberg and his Ensemble, which is part of the circle of albums accomplished and produced with sincerity, it is well worth listening to those who, by adventure, would appreciate good quality jazz and of great sensitivity.

SALT PEANUTS • Eyal Hareuveni • December 2019

American soprano sax player-composer Joe Rosenberg, who splits his time between Paris, France, and Bali, Indonesia, likes to frame his albums with cultural references and on Marshland he chose the words of American comedian-musician Reggie Watts on space in music: «It’s more important to realize the negative space, as music is only the division of space; and is the space we are listening to divided as such, which gives us the information in comparison to something other, that gives us the idea of what the idea that wants to be transmitted, wants to be».

«Marshland» was recorded in Paris in December 2018 and features an all-European quintet – the front line of Rosenberg, Belgian trumpeter Bart Maris and German Daniel Erdmann plus the attentive rhythm section of French double bass player Arnault Cuisinier and drummer Edward Perraud, that accompanied Rosenberg in his latest releases. This quintet charges its post-bebop aesthetics with collective improvisations that highlight melody and a positive sense of space and personal freedom.

The title-piece that is offered in three versions. The first one cements the balanced, leisured and full of ethereal space, emotional interplay of the Rosenberg, Maris and Erdmann, almost as a contemporary chamber unit. The second one highlights the imaginative and subtle work of the rhythm section of  Cuisinier and Perraud, and the third, last piece of the album refers to the bebop legacy but with total freedom. «La Danse». That repeats in two versions, intensifies the loose, chamber spirit of this album. Other pieces like «Funazushi», after the Japanese traditional sardine sushi, emphasizes the playful, nuanced storytelling qualities of Rosenberg and his ensemble, until you really crave unconditionally for this exotic delicacy. The song-like «Amelia» sounds as a melancholic and disillusioned comment on Joni Mitchell’s song by the same name, checking upon the song protagonist about forty years later.

CONCERTO MAGAZINE • Martin Schuster • December 2019

Der im Frankreich lebende und wirkende amerikandsche Saxofonist Joe Rosenberg ist schon in den vergangenen Jahren durch eigenstandige Musik abseits des Mainstreams aufgefallen.  Der fuir ihn typische hohe Abstraktionsgrad zeichnet auch “Marshland” aus, das er mit franzosischen und deutschen Kollegen aufgenonmen hat.  Der titletrack taucht gleich in drei Metamorphesen auf: einmal als verwubenes, wundersames Bläsertrio (aufser Rosenberg am Sopranosax nech der Trompeter Bart Maris und Daniel Erdmann am Tenor und Sopranosax), einmal als BassSchlagzeug-Konversation zwischen Arnault Cuisinier und Edawrd Perraud, einmal in Quintettbesetzung mit einer eloquenten, bewusst schlampig gespielten Bläserlinie uber pulsierender Rhythmusgruppe.  Miunter gibt es auch akkordisch aus notiertes Material (… Amelia), meist aber sind Rosenbergs Kompositionen eher skizzenhaft und improvisiert angelegt, auch mikrotonale Blästertexturen kommen vor.

The American saxophonist Joe Rosenberg, who lives and works in France, has already attracted attention in recent years with his independent music outside the mainstream. The high degree of abstraction typical for him also distinguishes “Marshland”, which he recorded with French and German colleagues. The title track appears in three metamorphoses: once as an entangled, wondrous wind trio (besides Rosenberg on soprano saxophone, trumpeter Bart Maris and Daniel Erdmann on tenor and soprano saxophone), once as a bass-drums conversation between Arnault Cuisinier and Edawrd Perraud, once as a quintet, an eloquent, deliberately sloppily played brass line over a pulsating rhythm section. Occasionally there is also chordally composed of notated material (… Amelia), but mostly Rosenberg's compositions are rather sketchy and improvised, and microtonal blister textures also occur.