Artist: Base 4
Title: Axes of Symmetry
Label: Analog Arts
Date: 2014
Retailers: CD Baby, Amazon, iTunes
Base 4 is a trio that disassembles well and lesser known jazz compositions, creatively reinterprets them, and segues in and out of the written themes using spontaneous improvisational interaction. Base 4 is Bruce Friedman on trumpet, Derek Bomback on guitar, and Alan Cook on drums and percussion.
TRACK LISTING
Track listing:
1. Lawns
2. Improvisation 1
3. Afro Blue
4. Improvisation 2
5. Las Vegas Tango
6. If You Never Come To Me
7. Improvisation 3
8. Straight No Chaser
9. Peacocks
10. Improvisation 4
11. My Funny Valentine
12. Improvisation 5
Track listing:
1. Lawns
2. Improvisation 1
3. Afro Blue
4. Improvisation 2
5. Las Vegas Tango
6. If You Never Come To Me
7. Improvisation 3
8. Straight No Chaser
9. Peacocks
10. Improvisation 4
11. My Funny Valentine
12. Improvisation 5
BIO
The individual musicians of Base 4 have been playing Jazz and Free Improv projects in the Southern California area for a decade or three. Other bands include Surrealestate (an improvised music ensemble, in existence for 20 years) and Decisive Instant (an ensemble improvises music utilizing non-standard notation). Alan has worked with Dave Holland, Albert Mangelsdorf, Bobby Bradford, Fred Katz, Lee Konitz, Don Thompson, Ralph Alessi, Vinny Golia, Kei Akagi, Dan Clucas, Steuart Leibig, Mark McGrain. Bruce has worked with Rich West¸ Motoko Honda, The Platters (pop band), and others. Prior CD releases of Bruce’s include “Landscape With Figure” (duo with Scott Fraser); “O.P.T.I.O.N.S.” (included in recent treatise on musical graphic notation: Notations21), and “Edge Study” (with liner notes graciously penned by composer Christian Wolff). Derek is a recent Masters of Composition graduate from Berklee College of Music in Boston and has since been playing guitar with the bands on the Princess Cruise Lines.
The individual musicians of Base 4 have been playing Jazz and Free Improv projects in the Southern California area for a decade or three. Other bands include Surrealestate (an improvised music ensemble, in existence for 20 years) and Decisive Instant (an ensemble improvises music utilizing non-standard notation). Alan has worked with Dave Holland, Albert Mangelsdorf, Bobby Bradford, Fred Katz, Lee Konitz, Don Thompson, Ralph Alessi, Vinny Golia, Kei Akagi, Dan Clucas, Steuart Leibig, Mark McGrain. Bruce has worked with Rich West¸ Motoko Honda, The Platters (pop band), and others. Prior CD releases of Bruce’s include “Landscape With Figure” (duo with Scott Fraser); “O.P.T.I.O.N.S.” (included in recent treatise on musical graphic notation: Notations21), and “Edge Study” (with liner notes graciously penned by composer Christian Wolff). Derek is a recent Masters of Composition graduate from Berklee College of Music in Boston and has since been playing guitar with the bands on the Princess Cruise Lines.
REVIEWS
“Don’t know what made them exactly chose these standards, but they make up a coherent and pleasant collection together with their own creations. Their improvisations make a pleasant contrast with the standards and offered most fun for me. Electric guitar and trumpet is a unusual combination, but they produce some fine interwoven patterns like in ‘Afro Blue’.” — Vital Weekly No 964
