Tag: Steve Horowitz

jazztimes.com

tomhull.com

Steve Horowitz: New Monsters (2011 [2012], Posi-Tone): Bassist, based in San Francisco, has eleven (or more) albums since 1993, some with the group Mousetrap. Quintet, with two saxophones — Steve Adams, from ROVA on alto and soprano (and flute), and Dan Plonsey on tenor — plus piano (Scott Looney) and drums (Jim Bove). Actually, I’m not sure why this isn’t Plonsey’s record: he wrote all of the tunes (except for the Coltrane/Dolphy medley). Plonsey is another Bay Area performer I hadn’t heard of: has a half-dozen albums since 1997, plus side-credits like Eugene Chadbourne, Anthony Braxton, and Tom Waits. The monsters on the cover strike me as an attempt to play up the humor while sneaking through what is by far the most avant record this label has yet released. B+(***)

www.allaboutjazz.com

The Posi-Tone label has positioned itself as a distinguished dealer in modern jazz and classy throwback sounds, demonstrating catholic tastes and a willingness to invest in artists of the established and unknown variety. New Monsters, however, doesn’t fall firmly into either category. San Francisco bassist Steve Horowitz oversees this outing that features free blowing fantasias and avant-garde musings, yet he understands the importance of finding cohesion in ensemble stability, grooves and repetitive riffs.

While Horowitz plays producer/puppet master, he also plays the straight man. He locks the grooves in place with drummer Jim Bove, while tenor saxophonist Dan Plonsey, who composed the large majority of these pieces, and multi-reedist Steve Adams act as attention-grabbing aggressors. They dominate a good deal of the program with their intriguing lines, zany counterpoint and madcap moves. The final piece of the puzzle, pianist Scott Looney, works both sides of the equation, as he works his way into madness with the reeds or falls in line with his rhythm mates.

 

The album opens with some music that’s more playful than purposeful (“Imperfect”). The quintet seems to be torn between two worlds as the rhythm section succumbs to the forces of stasis before the entire band breaks into a section of angular, serial-sounding music (“Mirror Earth”), but they eventually find their niche. After melding the work of reed mavericks John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy on “India/The Red Planet,” the band seems to find its footing. Looney’s prepared piano plays a prominent role in the success of the simple and groovy “Vision Pyramid Collapse,” but it’s even more important in the overall architecture of “Miracle Melancholy,” which proves to be one of the album’s strongest tracks. Adams’ flute and Plonsey’s tenor saxophone join forces in creating an Asiatic exploration of the macabre, creating tension and uncertainty throughout. Their mid-album winning streak continues with the breezy beginning and far-reaching journey of “Dragon Of Roses” and the engrossing “New Boots For Bigfoot.”

While the band wisely keeps these quirky little numbers on the shorter side, the album could have benefited from a bit more editing, with the removal of the few aimless numbers that threaten to taint the work as a whole. Fortunately, this group also delivers more than a few pieces that are highly pleasing in their pursuit of disparate ideals and willingness to branch out beyond the status quo.

midwestrecord.com

NEW MONSTERS: Nothing really monstrous about this Friscocentric jazz date where bass man Steve Horowitz is the leader and sax man Dan Plonsey is the head writer. A delightfully off beat set where the music is fairly linear but marches to the beat of it’s own drum. A little out of the ordinary but not far from the mainstream, the playing is on the money throughout and the change of pace is welcome. Check it out.
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lucidculture.wordpress.com

Fun Stuff from Steve Horowitz’s New Monsters

Funny jazz – there just isn’t enough of it. Happily, there’s bass guitarist Steve Horowitz’s recent New Monsters album, which follows an often comedic trajectory into the future of where melodic jazz is going. It seems to be Posi-Tone’s entry in the youngish eclectic kitchen-sink combo sweepstakes, and it is a winner. Hijinks aside, it’s an elegant blend of purist postbop, irreverently wry Microscopic Septet-ish narratives and funky Ethiopian-tinged excursions that would be at home in the Either/Orchestra catalog. While the album is credited to Horowitz, the composer here is tenor saxophonist Dan Plonsey, a brilliantly eclectic, witty and consistently surprising talent, playing alongside Steve Adams on alto and soprano saxes and also flute, with Scott Looney on piano and Jim Bove on drums.

The humor here runs the gamut, from subtle – the opening track, Imperfect Life, a casually insistent study in jauntily biting un-resolutions – to vaudevillian, culminating in the closing cut, Cylinder, a swinging Looney Tunes march punctuated by the most amusing drum break in recent memory. Not everything here is comedic, either. For example, there’s Mirror Earth, a swinging Micros-in-Ethiopia groove bookending a glittery free interlude for piano and alto sax. There’s also Journey to the East, a distantly south Asian-inflected, echoey, swirling microtonal overture that sets up a jauntily delicious romp through Coltrane and Dolphy’s India/The Red Planet with vividly biting, jagged saxes and spot-on modal piano. The title track artfully switches its galloping Ethiopiques bounce from bass to piano, after an unexpected swing interlude capped off by swirling tenor sax over machinegunning drums. And Miracle Melancholy juxtaposes bittersweet Dave Valentin-inflected flute against wary Ethiopian modalities, with a twinkly, minimalist piano interlude that rises as an unexpected joke.

The rest of the record is a lot of fun. There are a couple of sly strolling numbers: Vision Pyramid Collapse, with prepared piano mimicking a violin’s pizzicato, and the faux New Orleans march Dragon of Roses, featuring satirically conspiratorial, increasingly off-center twin saxes. There’s also New Boots for Bigfoot, a reggae tune with scurrying, Monty Alexander-style piano and what seems to be an interminable bass solo that turns out to have multiple levels of meaning – intentionally or not, it works. And Herald of Zombies marches up to where Plonsey and Looney threaten to raid the horror film cliche cupboard. This Bay Area crew sounds like they’d be a ton of fun live.

www.allaboutjazz.com

Old monsters? They were frightening, gargantuan, mythical beasts: fire-breathing, blood-lusting and not at all willing to put together anything close to a danceable riff.New Monsters, at least as envisioned by bassist Steve Horowitz on this Posi-Tone album, are a much more engaging bunch. There’s still some fire-breathing in evidence, but the blood lust is kept at bay in favor of an abundance of delightful melodies, harmonies and rhythms.

Horowitz, who favors the electric bass guitar rather than the upright acoustic instrument, is at the head of a quintet of experienced players. It’s a tight, tough unit, capable of some very powerful playing but also of much subtler and more controlled musicianship, as shown on “Miracle Melancholy” and “Journey To The East.”

While Horowitz leads the session, tenor saxophonist Dan Plonsey, a long-time collaborator, composed all of the original tunes. Plonsey, whose previous credits include work with Anthony Braxton, Tom Waits and Eugene Chadbourne, cheerfully throws a few curve balls with some fun titles. These are complemented by the cover art (another fine Posi-Tone design), but they don’t always accurately signpost the mood of the music. “Vision Pyramid Collapse” is the best of these—an almost apocalyptic phrase which fronts a joyous tune that incorporates a slinky bass line, jangly prepared piano and a catchy saxophone riff.

 

The jagged piano and drums interplay of “Brains For Breakfast” introduces “Herald Of Zombies.” Once again, Plonsey’s titles are diverting: this is no soundtrack to a George A. Romero nightmare. “Herald Of Zombies” sounds more like a Raymond Scott cartoon tune before Plonsey opens up with his most powerful solo, with pianist Scott Looney gradually coming to the fore with his own percussive scattergun showcase. Plonsey and alto saxophonist Steve Adams engage in imaginative, dueling interplay on “Shattered Silence:” indeed, this dual sax attack could well be said to characterize the New Monsters sound.

The band covers two tunes—John Coltrane’s “India” and Eric Dolphy’s “The Red Planet.” The numbers are merged together and given a driving and energetic arrangement, with some more terrific unison playing from the tenor and alto saxophones of Plonsey and Adams.

So these New Monsters are fun, funky, and far from something to be afraid of. Unless, of course, they’re hiding under the bed.

www.allaboutjazz.com

Despite the suggestion of the title, New Monsters is not actually crawling with legions of denizens from the netherworld. The promise of monsters has more to do with the unleashing of musical forces as diverse as klezmer and Erik Satie. Moreover, far from being a quaint experiment, the album takes a radical road—one that was travelled by Don Byron on Plays the Music of Mickey Katz (Electra, 1993). Whether the influence is direct is a moot point, but the bassist and leader of this ensemble, Steve Horowitz, has certainly heard his Byron and heard it well, as evidenced by his bold attempt at musical iconoclasm. The voice of the bassist is singular and authentic, and it comes through clearly from one brilliant arrangement to the next.

 

Horowitz is an edgy bassist. His stuttering legato is peppered with an unusual choice of notes that inhabit the very edge of the counterpoint he creates with tenor saxophonist Dan Plonsey. Although there are many electrifying examples of this, one that stands out is the superb arrangement of saxophonist John Coltrane’s minor intrusion, “India.” This colossal wall of sound, once directed by reed multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy, gets an exquisite remake. While the density of the piece is retained, the melodic and harmonic lines become superbly blurred; there is a feeling that Horowitz has infused it with something saxophonist Ornette Coleman would surely have called “Harmolodic” invention. The same holds true of Dolphy’s “The Red Planet,” which is a part of the medley tagged onto “India.”

 

There is a strange calm that pervades the album that is quite unnerving, like a crepuscular menace that seems to lurk behind the music. This is probably wholly intentional, and has much to do with the tenor saxophone of Dan Plonsey, the composer of all the original charts on the session. Plonsey has a deep, hollow sound inside which his voice echoes and resonates as if it were emerging hoarsely from an icy cave where the spirits of the denizens lurk. His chart, “New Monsters,” is brilliant in that respect, and is full of fear and loathing. “Miracle Melancholy” has a similar feel, the eeriness compounded by an ascending whine created by brushing the piano strings so that they wail and howl with the flute. This goes on as bells are rung, before the song crescendos in thundering drums and bass.

 

When dissonant music is impressionistically created on New Monsters, it suggests that the music is emerging from an ancient well where death lurks in “Shattered Silence” and zombies feast on “Brains for Breakfast.” This may appear to be quite the menu for an album where improvisation of the finest kind is the order of the day, but this is to be expected from musicians so well-schooled in their instruments, the history of music, and in the sublime ability to create music that is memorable every step of the way.

ejazznews.com

San Francisco Bay Area bassist Steve Horowitz of The Code International amid copious projects with largely cutting-edge instrumentalists leads a manifold progressive-jazz effort, augmented by the artists’ ‘monstrous’ chops. With a superfine lineup, featuring reedman Steve Adams of ROVA notoriety and tenor sax ace Dan Plonsey who gets credit for writing all the original pieces on this album, the program offers an abundance of disparate structural components.

There’s a whole lot of goodness going on under the hood as they say. It’s modern jazz that incorporates a few classical inferences, a two-step dance segment and a bevy of thriving jazz grooves, featuring the explosive dual sax attack. But a primary differentiator resides within Plonsey’s intriguing comps, shaped with memorable hooks, edgy overtones, and odd-metered time signatures. Indeed, it’s a group-centric engagement, offering asymmetrical parts eloquence, muscle, and sublime harmonic content.

Horowitz’s pliant electric bass lines elicit a traffic-cop perspective. And on “Journey to the East,” he lays out a firm bottom-end for the saxophonists’ swirling choruses, tinted with plaintive cries and nods to the free-zone. Here, pianist Scott Looney circles the frontline to create a closed-loop element. Otherwise, the band morphs John Coltrane’s “India” with Eric Dolphy’s “The Red Planet into a fire and brimstone gala, centered on an open-air sound. However, in other regions of the program the ensemble generates toe-tapping grooves and enacts vivid imagery of the legendary beast Bigfoot, partly due to Horowitz’s animated intro that sparks imagery of the monster brooding through the mountain forests.

Simply stated “New Monsters” is an unanticipated surprise that should theoretically find its way on many best-of lists for 2012. Thankfully, Horowitz and associates tender a modern jazz refresh of sorts, providing a much needed contrast to the rolling waves of ho hum, kiddie bop. – Glenn Astarita

Dan Plonsey – tenor sax; Steve Adams – alto & soprano sax, flute; Scott Looney – piano; Steve Horowitz – bass; Jim Bove – drums

https://www.posi-tone.com/newmonsters/newmonsters.html

somethingelsereviews.com

Steve Horowitz can be considered a jazz musician, but you’re not likely to have heard some of his music through the same channels as other jazz musicians. One of his main gigs is writing scores for movies, TV and even interactive media, and his accomplishments include scoring the award winning film Super Size Me. He’s has also composed for MTV, won a Grammy for the bluegrass album True Life Blues, The Songs Of Bill Monroe, and currently serves as audio director for Nickelodean Online.

For his latest album New Monsters, Horowitz might appear to take a backseat to his bandmates, as nearly all the songs are composed by the tenor saxophonist Dan Plonsey. Horowitz, on electric bass, even allows Plonsey, saxophonist/flautist Steve Adams and pianist Scott Looney to undertake all the soloing for the quintet (rounded out with Jim Bove on drums). However, Horowitz is apparently applying his experience in both classical and jazz music to devise some crafty arrangements that makes Plonsey’s songs wobble with pizzazz. One tune can take on the flavor of Central European chamber music (“Imperfect Life”) and another one will flirt with free jazz (“Journey To The East”) and another one might include elements of both (“Herald Of Zombies”). The best manifestation of Horowitz’s incisive musical vision on this record is the inspired mashup of John Coltrane’s “India” with Eric Dolphy’s The Red Planet” (Youtube below), a concocted combination that works so naturally well, you’re bound to swear it was originally conceived that way. A little zany but a lot of unpredictable fun, New Monsters is what happens when seriously good musicians make a tightly arranged but loose played record.

thejazzword.blogspot.com

Anchored by Steve Horowitz’s fretless bass, New Monstersexplores quirky grooves and thematic material with plenty of room for open-ended improvisation. Along with Horowitz, The San Francisco-based quintet features the dueling saxophone front-line of Steve Adams and Dan Plonsey—who composes the groups material—, pianist Scott Looney and drummer Jim Bove.

Tight, two saxophone harmonies are prevalent and give the music a unique character, at times deliberately harsh, certainly ear catching and a lot of fun. Plonsey’s writing is at its best when things happen quite unexpectedly, as with “Dragon of Roses” and “New Boots for Big Foot,” moving from pseudo-ethnic dance rhythms to out-of-nowhere abandonment of form. Plonsey and Adams burn it up on the title track showcasing a penchant for free blowing.

The sci-fi/horror theme of the track titles and the cover art coincide with the overall unusualness of the music to create a refreshing listening experience.