The Chris Welcome Quartet
About
Chris Welcome’s first album as a leader, simply titled, “Quartet” contains fifteen of Welcome’s compositions spread over eleven tracks. In addition to Welcome’s guitar, the CD features Jonathan Moritz on Tenor and Soprano Saxophone, Shayna Dulberger on Upright Bass, and John McLellan on Drums. Throughout the CD, these four musicians weave together group improvisations with composed material and solos. For the most part eschewing full-blown free jazz, they focus on the use of silence and counterpoint."The Chris Welcome Quartet" CD is also available on the Tigerasylum Website.
Reviews
ALL ABOUT JAZZ May 2008 Chris Welcome "Quartet"
Review by Terrell Kent Holmes.
The eleven tracks here seem to be painted as much as played and the music is sometimes about effects as much as notes. The sequential numbering of these spare compositions, all penned by guitarist/ leader Chris Welcome, recalls the method of numbering paintings in a series, thus underscoring the artistic parallel. The songs revolve mostly around the sax work of Jonathan Moritz, whose brooding ruminations on soprano and tenor unfold slowly while Welcome, bassist Shayna Dulberger and drummer John McLellan fill the spaces on the canvas behind him with spirited, laconic riffs. For his part, Moritz sometimes breathes into his mouthpiece for effect before playing and his clever use of harmonics, the upper register and atonality serve as the album's thematic foundation. There are a few moments, however, when the band falls into more conventional playing. "#4" has a free jazz bent that recalls Ornette Coleman; Welcome plays rapid-fire riffs like a man unshackled, his single note lines sounding sharp enough to break the strings. On "#3" Moritz' skyscraping soprano mimics a flute and Dulberger's arco on "#8+15+6" moans somewhere between an Indian raga and a Tibetan monk chant. These moments of inventive mimicry widen the scope of the performances and raise the album above the level of plainness. The atmosphere ranges from somber to lively to almost forbidding. The songs are carefully crafted and played by a group of distinct and talented musicians who manage to convey their unique and cohesive message amidst the mysterious, stark landscapes.
July 2008 Exclaim.ca
This is wonderfully spacey music. Filled with eerie moans, hushed thumpings and soft whisperings, guitarist Chris Welcome¹s compositions get reverential readings by his co-conspirators Shayna Dulberger on bass, John McLellan on drums, and Jonathan Moritz on tenor and soprano saxes. Pieces have no titles to give the listener something to hold onto. Instead the numbered tracks convey the ineffability of time, pitch and space with a sparseness that is made all the more compelling by the musicians¹ mature self-restraint. Quartet isn¹t a free improv blowfest. Instead, it is a thoughtful, evocative and deeply intelligent musical conversation made by people who clearly are interested in what each other have to say. As much as the sounds convey a noirish vibe, the most outstanding thing about Welcome¹s music is how hard the musicians listen to one another. This recording is well worth tracking down. By Glen Hall