''Incidentals'' is an album by American composer and saxophonist
Tim Berne
Tim Berne (born October 16, 1954) is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones.
Biography
Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said that ...
's band Snakeoil which was released on the
ECM label in 2017.
[ECM Catalogue](_blank)
accessed December 19, 2017
Reception
The
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars and stated "this five-track set offers what is by now an unmistakable sound, with Berne's constantly interweaving scripted melodies, modes, and dialogues seamlessly wedded to group improvisation. When combined, they create not only a musical signature, but a shared language".
Writing in
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
, John Fordham commented "This fourth Snakeoil album for ECM is one of the most viscerally direct and exciting chapters in a consistently creative story".
[Fordham, J]
The Guardian Review
August 25, 2017
The
All About Jazz
''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...
review by Karl Ackermann said that "Long ago surpassing his mentor Julius Hemphill, Berne has been furthering the late saxophonist's technique and taking his own compositional skills to progressively higher levels. In Snakeoil he has found a perfect formation, where traditional solos are minimized and group dynamics dictate the sound. Just as could be said with each preceding Snakeoil release, ''Incidentals'' is the group's best release to date" while Mark Sullivan stated "The integration of composition and improvisation typical of Berne's work is especially pronounced in this program".
[Ackermann, K]
All About Jazz Review 1
August 29, 2017[Sullivan, M]
All About Jazz Review 2
September 18, 2017
The ''
JazzTimes
''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store.
Coverage
After a decade of growt ...
'' review by Lloyd Sachs observed "Among its many rewards, Incidentals documents the growth of the exciting partnership between Berne and Mitchell. ... he relates to the leader through the heady way he embroiders open spaces, enhances the album’s pervasive classical imprint, intensifies the architecture of certain tunes and subtly colors the aural landscape with electronic touches".
[Sachs, L]
Jazz Times Review
November 18, 2017
Track listing
All compositions by Tim Berne except as indicated
# "Hora Feliz" – 10:26
# "Stingray Shuffle" – 7:36
# "Sideshow" – 26:01
# "Incidentals Contact" – 10:47
# "Prelude One / Sequel Too" (Matt Mitchell, Berne / Berne) – 9:17
Personnel
*
Tim Berne
Tim Berne (born October 16, 1954) is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones.
Biography
Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said that ...
–
alto saxophone
*Ryan Ferreira –
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...
*Oscar Noriega –
clarinet,
bass clarinet
*
Matt Mitchell –
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
, electronics
*
Ches Smith
Gordon McChesney "Ches" Smith is an American musician, whose primary instruments are drums, percussion, and vibraphone.
He recorded and performed an album of his own solo percussion pieces entitled ''Congs for Brums'' (2006). In 2010 he release ...
–
drums,
vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...
,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
,
timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...
*
David Torn
David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping.
Background
Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...
– guitar (tracks 1
ntroand 3
utro
References
{{Authority control
ECM Records albums
Tim Berne albums
2017 albums
Albums produced by David Torn