Things we like: "Sounds Exposed," Simon Nabatov, Mario Pavone

You can't eat the same food every day, and perhaps the knowledge that what Wayne Shorter calls "the door" is getting closer put me in mind to hear some new stuff, rather than continually plowing the same furrow, as is my usual wont (not that I delude myself that listening to new music can forestall my ultimate extinction).

1) One of my favorite guitarist-composers, Brooklyn-based Marco Oppedisano, has a track on a new compilation of experimental music gleaned from online sources by Brazilian composer-producer George Christian. The 29 selections on Sounds Exposed: Music Without Frontiers are a varied lot. So as not to slight any of the artists, I revive my practice of writing three word reviews of every track.

Mahata Sentimental Legend -- Sinister tribal thump.
Joaquin Mendoza Sebastian -- Densely textured echolalia.
Molloy and His Bike -- Guitar as percussion.
Anastasia Vronsky -- Is anyone receiving?
Paulo Chagas -- Melancholy woodwind duet.
Feeding Goats -- Information dense soundscape.
Jeff Gburek -- Indian flavored drone.
Marco Lucchi -- Sitar overtone bath.
James Ross -- Dissonant long tones.
Herve Perez -- Haunting site specificity.
Wilhelm Matthies -- Invented instrument friction.
Vanessa Rossetto -- Train whistle viola.
Marco Oppeddisano -- Metallic artifact collage.
Doug Seidel -- Head spinning electronica.
Bruce Hamilton -- Abstractions that breathe.
Stefan Schmidt -- Ebbing, flowing guitar.
Mat Ward Nomatesensemble -- Zappaesque; mastered LOUD!
Shape2 -- VU style minimalism.
Lezet -- Tick tock tension.
Peter Thoegersen -- So many microtones!
Joseph Benzola -- Musique concrete march.
Mike Tamburo -- Fahey ascends Heavenward.
Peter Stenberg -- Slow deliberate space.
Mystified -- Slithering dream soundtrack.
Summons of Shining Ruins -- Distorted choral symphony.
Owl Dreams -- Dimly recalled echoes.
Jurica Elic -- Balkan baritone balladeer.
Vincent Bergeron -- Composite atonal songcraft.
George Christian -- Syd's Floyd redux.

But don't take my word for it. Hear for yourself.



2) A recent deep dive through the last decade of jazz -- initially inspahrd by ex-NYT scribe Nate Chinen's slim but useful tome Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century (which actually covers the last two decades, in a Noo Yawk-centric way) -- indirectly reminded me how much worthy stuff the Portuguese Clean Feed label has released over the years. Besides some of my most beloved Dennis Gonzalez sides, they've also released favorite records of mine by the likes of Joe Morris (whose four CD box of duets with Anthony Braxton displays a lyrical bent I was unaware either man possessed), Kris Davis, Mark Dresser, Chris Lightcap (whose 2015 Epicenter is a love letter to NYC to rival Spike Lee's 25th Hour, and whose brand new, eclectic, David Breskin-produced Superette for Royal Potato Family ain't no slouch, either), and Lawnmower (whose 2010 debut West teams half of Morris' regular quartet with a couple of rock guitarists), among many others.

Latest batch of Clean Feeds includes two that moved right to the top of my stack. Simon Nabatov Quintet's Last Minute Theory features an all-star cast (Tony Malaby, Brandon Seabrook, Michael Formanek, Gerald Cleaver) supporting a Russian emigre pianist who spent most of the '80s in NYC before decamping to Germany at the end of the decade. While Nabatov's known as a free player, it's his compositions, which vary in mood and tempo as they move between "straight ahead" and "outside" -- sometimes within the same piece -- that are the focus here. Malaby, whose work as a sideman I've always preferred to any of his own dates (perhaps I just haven't heard the right ones?) performs sensitively on tenor and soprano, while Seabrook's subtly eccentric guitarisms provide the chaos factor, but all the players are stellar and work well together, whether on the appropriately-titled "Slow Move," the Latin-tinged "Rickety," the "out" parade music of "Marching Right Along," or the ruminative ballad "Translated." Highly recommended.

Mario Pavone is a name I only dimly recalled from my late-'70s New Music Distribution Service catalogs. My loss. After early associations with Paul Bley, Bill Dixon, and Anthony Braxton, Pavone spent 18 years playing in a trio with the late saxophonist Thomas Chapin. His Dialect Trio's Philosophy is the third document of his collaboration with pianist Matt Mitchell (whom I first heard on Dan Weiss's metal-jazz hybrid Starebaby -- another David Breskin production! -- but who's also worked with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas, among others) and the redoubtable Tyshawn Sorey (here back in his "young Tony Williams" mode, as when I first encountered him on Fieldwork's Door a decade ago). Like all the best piano trios, it's a conversation, rather than a leader-with-sidemen situation, and reflective in the manner of Bley or Bill Evans. The tunes are all by Pavone, save two by Annette Peacock (whose book was explored at great length by Marilyn Crispell, Gary Peacock, and Paul Motian for ECM a few years back) and one collective improvisation. A rewarding spin.