| Jim
McAuley's The
Ultimate Frog
is a two-CD collection of duets between the guitarist
and four great musicians: Leroy Jenkins (violin, viola),
Nels Cline (guitars), Ken Filiano (bass)
and Alex Cline (drums/percussion). The result of these
pairings is a diverse and richly textured set of music, which includes
quick-witted open improvisations, freeform folk and blues tunes, aching
ballads and earthy modal pieces. McAuley is one of those few musicians
who are (as Ellington put it) genuinely "beyond category"; his
playing is an intensely personal distillation of a huge range of influences--from
fingerpicked blues to free jazz, not to mention Arabic oud music and Renaissance
lute-song. The Ultimate Frog is a long-overdue collection of work from
this too rarely documented master guitarist.
Jim McAuley was born in Kansas in 1946; much to the dismay
of his parents, his musical talent showed early, and as a teen he turned
his attention to playing acoustic blues guitar. Classical studies, folk
guitar and jazz shortly entered the mix; in later years, he also took
up kora, charango and oud. In the late 1960s he was a member of a folk-rock
group, Mouse; under contract to Capitol Records, the band moved to Los
Angeles, only to fall apart before even recording their first album. Stranded,
McAuley spent a while as part of producer Don Costa's stable of studio
musicians--he's present on albums by Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, and Eydie
Gorme, among others--but the experience left him disenchanted, and it
wasn't long till he embarked for Europe (first Paris, then Ibiza) for
an extended sojourn, concentrating on just "getting next to [his]
guitar". Returning to LA in the mid-1970s, he hooked up with the
many fine players on the local avant-jazz scene--most crucially, the clarinettist
John Carter, who was for a time his mentor. McAuley also connected with
the post-Harry Partch microtonalists Erv Wilson, Ivor Darreg and Kraig
Grady, an interest that much later bore fruit in the Acoustic Guitar Trio,
a collaboration with Nels Cline and Rod Poole exploring just intonation,
regular temperament and many other tuning-systems (often simultaneously!).
He kept a low profile, supporting himself with gigging and teaching, though
one other false start towards a recording career occurred in 1976, when
he was signed to John Fahey's Takoma Records, then dropped when the label
was sold to Chrysalis. In the 1990s he led a series of disparate groups
for Cline's Alligator Lounge series--a constantly mutating project he
dubbed "The Gongfarmers" (a gong farmer, if you really must
know, is a medieval latrine cleaner). Despite this, McAuley's previous
release under his own name, Gongfarmer 18 (Nine Winds), is actually a
solo recording. His only other CD to date is the Acoustic Guitar Trio's
self-titled debut, released on Derek Bailey's Incus label.
Aside from the leader himself, the musicians on The Ultimate Frog
probably need little in the way of introduction. McAuley originally met
the late, great Leroy Jenkins (arguably the most important
violinist to emerge from the 1960s jazz avant-garde) when the latter's
trio with Myra Melford and Joseph Jarman played LA in 2002. Their performances
are the closest thing here to conventional free-improv duets. There's
no precomposed material: they simply seized the moment and ran, producing
some exceptionally searching and fast-moving exchanges. The other three
players are key figures from the Los Angeles free jazz music scene, though
Ken Filiano is currently based in New York, and nowadays
Nels Cline splits his schedule between avant-jazz gigs
and his work as a member of Wilco. Many of these tracks involve some loose
premeditation or agreed-upon exploration of a specific texture, approach
or lick (including some great blues hooks); there are even a few dots-on-paper
tunes. What's apparent throughout all four sessions is McAuley's love
of the sheer variety and depth of sound he and his partners can create--from
the spellbound hush of "Bullfrogs and Fireflies" and "November
Night" to the daft hullabaloo of "Froggie's Magic Twanger."
The result is a fresh, often spellbinding collection of music that celebrates
the improvised moment in all its temporary pleasures and perils. - Nate
Dorward (Oct, 2008)
Press:
"...a
hauntingly heartfelt feat..." - Exclaim!
"...peaceful and rigorous music."
- The New York Times
"To the borders of improvisation."
- Tokafi
"Beautiful surprises abound throughout
this excellent set..." - Paris Transatlantic Magazine
"Improvised music with a deep soul."
- Vital Weekly
"Years from now, McAuley’s accomplishments
with this set will hopefully be talked about in the highest regard."
- Bagatellen
"...this is brilliant work, which
knows no boundaries and draws from all."
- FFWD (Calgary)
"...a gem."
- Hour (Montreal)
"...a rich, 100-minute collection
that encompasses free improvs, ballads, and even a through-composed setting
or two." - textura
"An intimate experience that surpasses
any kind of vacuous virtuosity one might encounter and get fooled by."
- Touching Extremes
"...something like an American analogue
to the British improviser Derek Bailey."
- The New York Times
"McAuley's music has an intensity
and emotional charge which puts me in mind of the rich colour-saturation
of 1950's film-stock or the heady scent of tropical flowers..." -
Signal To Noise
Album
Review: New York Times
Album
Review: Bagatellen
Album
Review: Dusted
Album
Review: Tokafi
Album
Review: Touching Extremes
Album
Review/Feature: Exclaim!
Album
Review: Hour
Album
Review: Clouds and Clocks
Album
Review: Textura
Album
Review: Paris Transatlantic Magazine (Scroll Down!)
Album
Review: Metal Jazz
Album
Review: FFWD
Album
Review: Music Emissions
Album
Review: Lerterland
Album
Review: Free Jazz
Album
Review: le son du grisli
Interview:
Paris Transatlantic Magazine
You
Tube: Jim McAuley Improvises
Links:
Acoustic
Guitar Trio Review (Jim McAuley, Nels Cline & Rod Poole)
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