"The Chicago Plan," Out Now on Clean Feed Records!
By Kato Bookbird
More than 10 years of partnership between American trombonist, composer Steve Swell and German tenor saxophonist, bass clarinetist and composer Gebhard Ullmann after their successful first collaboration, The Ullmann/Swell Quartet featuring bassist Hill Greene and drum legend Barry Altschul continues now with a new version of the quartet featuring renowned Chicagoans, Michael Zerang, drums, percussion and Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello.
This ensemble is appropriately named The Chicago Plan. The plan of course is to integrate the leaders’ fresh written material to inspire and be in the service of groundbreaking areas of improvisation that include world rhythms, universal textures and other worldly sound experiences. All the accumulated experience of the members of The Chicago Plan forge a personal approach and vocabulary that is as natural as it is exhilarating. Their collective approach is loose and cool and is constantly full of life. That’s a good plan for any band whether the band is from Chicago or New York (Swell’s home), or Berlin (Ullmann’s home) or any other city in the world for that matter. To pick up a copy of The Ullmann/Swell 4 debut album, The Chicago Plan, head to the Clean Feed Store, or find it via Amazon and iTunes. The quartet will tour Europe and the UK next November.
"Here now was jazz energy. Here was meticulous virtuosity. Here was wild, driving rhythm and horns in a front-line part. Stopping on a dime, returning to the previous mood. Finding a way to end. The ebb and flow of formal composition and instantaneous improvisation is what makes this approach to music making so exciting" — Lazaro Vega, Jazz Director, Blue Lake Radio. Read the full concert report from our news archive.
"Here now was jazz energy. Here was meticulous virtuosity. Here was wild, driving rhythm and horns in a front-line part. Stopping on a dime, returning to the previous mood. Finding a way to end. The ebb and flow of formal composition and instantaneous improvisation is what makes this approach to music making so exciting" — Lazaro Vega, Jazz Director, Blue Lake Radio. Read the full concert report from our news archive.
Tags: The Chicago Plan, Gebhard Ullmann, Steve Swell, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Michael Zerang, Clean Feed
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