In live performance, N.Y.C. drummer Jim Black can't help but grab a lion's share of the audience attention from his bandmates. Even in ensembles led by such stellar players as Dave Douglas, Tim Berne, Ellery Eskelin, and Chris Speed, his percussive pyrotechnics are simply riveting, and one wonders whether those bandleaders have noticed the many instances when everyone's eyes are locked on the guy back there thrashing away on the skins and adding coloristic flourishes with a host of oddball pa   [ read more ]

CD $18.98

The sophomore solo outing by drummer extraordinaire Jim Black and his Alasnoaxis band (Chris Speed on reeds and winds, Hilmar Jensson on guitars, Skuli Sverrisson on bass, everybody on effects) takes the more rock-oriented elements from his debut and explores them to heavily distorted yet wildly lyrical ends. This is music with its power-chorded rock riffs worn loudly and proudly, pushing the needle into the red on virtually every tune, while exploring the notions of overt yet complex l   [ read more ]

CD $18.98

Well, this is the third album from Black's group AlasNoAxis, and if listeners haven't heard this project before and are coming to it from any of the other projects these players have been associated with, they're likely to be a bit confused. The reason is that despite their chops and their backgrounds, this isn't really a jazz album. It's a rock album, but they use a horn player instead of a singer. Despite what some jazz purists may say, this doesn't make the music any less interesting or le   [ read more ]

CD $18.98

Dogs of Great Indifference is the fourth Winter & Winter CD by Jim Black's extraordinary AlasNoAxis quartet, a band that sometimes seems the perfect embodiment of internal contradictions. This is a jazz group that prefers rocking over swinging and often limits improvisations to relatively minor digressions from simple melodies. Those melodies are attractive, but balanced by floods of distorted noise. Leader/composer Black is without doubt one of the most hyper-rhythmic drummers in th   [ read more ]

CD $18.98

CD $18.98