Ziggurat Quartet

Calculated Gestures

Origin 82564

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Ziggurat Quartet creates music with a compelling spirit and visceral appeal that is exciting to listen to.
-Earshot Jazz

Ziggurat Quartet is made up of some of Seattle?s most innovative jazz improvisers. A passion for rhythmic experimentation drives the ensemble?s complex original compositions, with many of the ten pieces being deeply influenced by the rhythms of East Indian music, as well as jazz and contemporary chamber music. Coupled with strong improvising, the result is a mix of music that is engaging, spontaneous, and compelling. Saxophonist Eric Barber, pianist Bill Anschell, bassist Doug Miller, and drummer Byron Vannoy, bring personal voices and broad aesthetic horizons to the ensemble, together charting new directions for jazz quartet.


Track Listing:

1 XoBoX 7:17 (Barber)
2 Scenic Overlook 7:58 (Miller)
3 The Bottom Stair 9:23 (Anschell)
4 Vindaloo 9:19 (Miller)
5 Calculated Gestures 7:23 (Anschell)
6 Zigtuno 8:20 (Miller)
7 Oregonian Monkey Chant 5:10 (Barber)
8 10 to 5 4:38 (Anschell)
9 Prismic 6:01 (Anschell)
10 Sezimora 7:33 (Barber)

Performers:

Ziggurat Quartet is:
ERIC BARBER - tenor & soprano saxophones
BILL ANSCHELL - piano
DOUG MILLER - bass
BYRON VANNOY - drums & percussion

Production Info:

Produced by Ziggurat Quartet
Recorded November 1 & 2, 2009 at David Lange Studios, Edgewood, WA
Recorded and mixed by David Lange
Mastered by Mark Guenther, Seattle Disc Mastering
Band photo by Daniel Sheehan
Cover design by John Bishop


Reviews of Calculated Gestures

All Music Guide (Ken Dryden)
The Ziggurat Quartet consists of saxophonist Eric Barber, pianist Bill Anschell, bassist Doug Miller, and drummer Byron Vannoy, with all of the music consisting of challenging originals. Barber's robust tenor is featured in his tense "Sezimora." His "Oregonian Monkey Chant" may at first seem like a repetitious, slow-to-develop number, though a diff ...

Jazz Review (Ron Bierman)
One of the ways jazz has grown is by absorbing the sounds and rhythms of other cultures. African and Latin American music were strong early influences. Today, India is making waves. Since classical Indian music has always included extensive improvisation, it seems it might have happened sooner. However, while spirituals, rumbas and African drums re ...

Cadence Magazine (Jerome Wilson)
Calculated Gestures is by a group of veteran musicians from the Pacific Northwest who experiment with a gamut of sounds, using complex hip-hoppish beats on "XoBoX," snaky Indian melodies on "Vindaloo" and minimalist phrase repetition on "Oregonian Monkey Chant." These pieces often have the piano, bass, and drums locking into angular and fragmented ...

Cadence Magazine (Jerome Wilson)
Calculated Gestures is by a group of veteran musicians from the Pacific Northwest who experiment with a gamut of sounds, using complex hip-hoppish beats on "XoBoX," snaky Indian melodies on "Vindaloo" and minimalist phrase repetition on "Oregonian Monkey Chant." These pieces often have the piano, bass, and drums locking into angular and fragmented ...

Afropop Worldwide (Nenim Iwebuke)
Nigerian-born, London-raised, Brooklyn-based saxophonist, composer and producer Zem Audu is no novice to the music industry. While working closely with notable names like Hugh Masekela, Jason Moran and Lauryn Hill over the years, the Skatalites band member has ingested a variety of genres: contemporary jazz, ska, reggae, funk, soul and r&b. Zem' ...



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