Joe McPhee | Ingebrigt Haker Flaten | Blue Chicago Blues | nottwo records | metropolis

Joe McPhee | Ingebrigt Haker Flaten

Blue Chicago Blues

Not Two, 2010 | MW 841-2 | CD

Joe McPhee – sax | Ingebrigt Haker Flaten – bass

All compositions by McPhee (ASCAP) and Haker Flaten (TONO)

Recorded at Vivians Place in Chicago on December 3rd, 2007. Mixed and mastered by Rafal Scattergood (DTS Studio) on June 19th, 2010. Produced by Joe McPhee and Ingebrigt Haker Flaten. Co-Produced by Marek Winiarski. Photos of musicians by Krzysztof Penarski. Cover and sleeve design by Marek Wajda.

Tracklist: 1. TRUTH IN THE ABSTRACT BLUES [06:23] 2. CERULEAN MOOD SWING [06:36] 3. REQUIEM FOR AN EMPTY HEART [08:29] 4. I LOVE YOU TOO LITTLE BABY [04:04] 5. THE SHAPE OF BLUES TO COME [09:25] 6. LEGEND OF THE THREE BLIND MOOSE [07:03]

Download listen to McPhee and Haker Flaten | I Love You Too Little Baby

16 EURO incl. shipment cost world-wide

In Blue Chicago Blues, recorded in 2007

the duo of tenor player Joe McPhee and bassist Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten balances out very well, in ethnicity, instrumentation, musical personality, and tonal character. McPhee is relaxed with the openness of his horn and Håker-Flaten, attentively diligent at emphasizing the tautness of his bass strings. “Requiem for An Empty Heart” sounds the blues-iest of all of the six tracks. But McPhee’s poetry on the back cover of the record jacket settles any question of how blues are anyway: “For this here ain’t nothin’ but the blues, nasty, low down, trifflin’ and sweet…” Dedicated to the late Chicago tenorman, Fred Anderson, the recording refers to blues-makers Oliver Nelson and Ornette Coleman and simple imaginations of the downtrodden or the mercurial female kind.

Ingebrigt Haker Flaten

Håker-Flaten is one-third of The Thing, the trio with Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and Swedish reedman Mats Gustafsson. McPhee has performed with them many times from their inception in 2000. Norwegian Håker-Flaten is a small, compact, energetic, perpetual motion machine. His technique is generally born of precision and expedition, yet, his slow-tempo pizzicato presents itself with a guitar-like resonance. The bassist also sings out-loud when the feeling calls for it.

Joe McPhee

McPhee’s treatment of the tenor passes through a wide range: from a two-note ostinato phrase to seemingly un-sequential arpeggios, to whining, cat-like squeals to melodies that are to die for. He does not refrain from splitting tones and he molds pure, tender ones which he dabbles with and then leaves behind in sourness. He is not wont to vocalize through the reed to extend the expressivity of the notes he presses through or sharpens or flats. McPhee is a master of telling a story with the musical line. These stories burn as hot as the blue flame pictured on the disc’s cover. — Lyn Horton, Jazz Times

Download listen to McPhee and Haker Flaten | I Love You Too Little Baby
16 EURO incl. shipment cost world-wide

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