• FFEAR with Ole Mathisen and Chris Washburne on JazzSet

    November 25, 2011. Posted by Becca Pulliam.

    Add new comment | Filed under: chris washburne, FFEAR, Jazz Alive, JazzSet, Ole Mathisen, Tony Moreno

    Things are not what they seem to be .. a four-piece group sounds like a larger ensemble, playing music that is a convincing illusion.

    Tune in Sunday, November 27, at 6pm and/or Wednesday, November 30 at 6:30 for FFEAR on JazzSet. It's not scary, it's seductive as reed man Ole Mathisen carries us away from the familiar with microtonal harmony and layered rhythms, then brings us home, changed.

    FFEAR Photo by Lena Adasheva
    FFEAR Photo by Lena Adasheva

    Chris Washburne plays trombone and Tony Moreno, drums, with Ole's brother Per Mathisen from Norway on bass at Miller Theater, Columbia University, New York. Recording and Surround Sound mix by Duke Markos.

    Ole practices alternate fingerings to produce tones that are neither natural, flat nor sharp but somewhere in between. Three-quarter tones. But, as Chris says, these in-between pitches already live in jazz; for one example, blues singers use them liberally to tell stories and express  emotion.

    Ole's composition "Mirage" was commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works, funded generously by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

    Listen on demand any time during the week, here.

    © 2011 WBGO

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