Ray Anderson + Han Bennink + Christy Doran

(Hat Hut, 1994 & 1995)

About AZURETY : A multinational group, trombonist, Ray Anderson, (United States) and drummer, Han Bennink (Holland) are known for injecting wit and whimsy into various musical frameworks. The musicians infuse their playful tendencies into this set also featuring the equally talented electric guitarist, Christy Doran (Ireland). On this release, the trio is simply having a blast as they surge forward with the intensity of your average high-octane, heavy metal rock outfit. Here, Anderson's often-verbose mode of execution rides atop Bennink's rolling thunder, and Doran's quasi free-jazz/hard-rock style licks.
The trio engages in uninhibited dialogue in concert with ominous sounding undercurrents thanks to a rollicking and rolling presentation of pieces spanning bluesy, dirge-like progressions and turbulently executed exchanges. Doran utilizes delay effects amid blazingly fast single note leads, and a few ostinato motifs while Anderson and Bennink frequently trade sprightly fours. The musicians also provide the listener with softly enacted swing vamps along with some downright riotous interplay. Recommended !

Glenn Astarita (Allmusic)

About CHEERUP : This trio's first recording, the wonderful Azurety, met with acclaim by critics and music fans alike for its gleeful abandon, musically astute terrorism, and tunes that were stop-on-a-dime tight. The trio, which was initially together just for a tour, is now a working unit and this second recording proves it. The originals by Christy Doran and Ray Anderson were written specifically to the strengths — and current obsessions — of each musician. Doran wrote "No Return" — with its crunchy New Orleans funk — with Han Bennink in mind (the drummer had just returned from West Africa and developed a jones for using bells). For his part, Anderson composed "My Own Children Are the Reason Why I Need to Own My Publishing" — which is all but humorous — as a bluesy wonder for his trombone's lyrical swing and Doran's trademark atmospheric shading. It's late-night lounge blues with a purpose, which is, it seems, a tender and loving paean to Anderson's kids. The free stuff ("Tabasco Cart," "Buckethead," etc.) is so playful it's hard to notice at first all the maneuvering that's going on between the three. Bennink is ripping the skins off in an attempt to make Doran push himself beyond his usual Jimi Hendrix machinations and match him in percussive expression. The title track is more bells from Bennink and whistles, and Doran using an African folk song as his root melody for Anderson to cruise through the registers on the tuba. It's a joyous dance of melodic invention and polyrhythmic grace. The overtones created by Doran's riffing play an excellent invertible counterpoint to Bennink's bells and whistles. When it slides into guttersnipe funk and slips into an off-kilter Cuban mambo, Doran takes off Robert Fripp style, and carries the band into the stratosphere. This date is killer — a blast to listen to. Guaranteed to cheer you up, even if you don't need it.

Thom Jurek (Allmusic)

Fredy Studer : "Seven songs"

(Verabra, 1991)

"...Studer has created an extraordinary polycultural musical experience for open-minded listeners..." (JAZZIZ)

Fredy Studer was born in Lucerne, Switzerland where he still resides. He is a self - taught drummer and percussionist, one of the few who incorporate open improvisation as well as straight rock beats into his style, who's experiences as an active musician since the seventies are as various as playing with musicians from "A" like Abercrombie to "Z" like Zorn. For example :
In 1972, he was a founding member of the group "OM", along with Christy Doran, Urs Leimgruber and Bobby Burri (Japo). In 1977, he participated in the project "Percussion Profiles" with Jack DeJohnette, Pierre Favre, Dom Um Romao, David Friedman and George Gruntz (Japo).

During the eighties, he recorded several albums for ECM with Rainer Brüninghaus & Markus Stockhausen (1984), the Pierre Favre ensemble with Paul Motian and Nana Vasconcelos (1984) and Stephan Wittwer & Christy Doran (1987). Studer has also been in the percussion ensemble of Robyn Schulkowsky, performing compositions of Charles Ives, Steve Reich, John Cage and Edgard Varèse.

During the nineties, he was involved in the "Doran / Studer / Burri / Magnenat" quartet (Ecm, 1991), the "Doran / Studer / Minton / Bates / Ali » quintet playing the music of Jimi Hendrix and the power trio "Race the time » (with Christy Doran and Jamaaladeen Tacuma). Today, current groups include the hardcore chamber music trio "Koch - Schütz – Studer"(Intakt). Studer is also developing his series of duo recordings among others with female musicians : Jin Hi Kim, Joëlle Léandre, Amy Yoshida, Lauren Newton, Saadet Turkoz...

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Christy Doran + Fredy Studer + Phil Minton + Django Bates + Amin Ali : "Play the music of Jimi Hendrix"

(Verabra, 1994)

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Christy Doran + Fredy Studer + Jamaaladeen Tacuma : "Race the time"

(MGB, 1997)

The Irish-born Doran has lived in Lucerne, Switzerland, since he was a child. His first exposure to music came through his father, a singer of Irish ballads. In the '70s, Doran helped found the band OM, with Fredy Studer, Urs Leimgrumber, and Bobby Burri; the band recorded several times for the Japo/ECM label. Although not particularly well-known in the United States, Doran has played with a good many first-rate American experimental and free jazz musicians, including saxophonist Marty Ehrlich, flutist Robert Dick, trombonist Ray Anderson, and composer Carla Bley, among others. With Studer, Doran initiated a project celebrating the music of Jimi Hendrix; the band also included Amin Ali, Django Bates, and Phil Minton. The group toured and recorded in the mid-'90s. Doran's collaboration with Anderson dates to 1989; the two men combined with drummer Han Bennink to form a trio which performed occasionally through 1997. Doran has led record dates for the hatART, Synton, Intuition, and Planisphere labels. He is a prolific collaborator; in addition to those named above, he's also worked with trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, clarinetist Louis Sclavis, percussionist Marilyn Mazur, trumpeter Herb Robertson, pianist John Wolf Brennan, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, to name just a few. Doran formed the group New Bag in 1997; from 1998-2000 the band toured the world, playing dates in North and South America, Africa, and Europe. In 2001, the band toured to promote their CD Black Box (On Cue Records), which featured the Indian master drummer Muthuswamy Balasubramoniam. Doran teaches at the Musikhochschule of Lucerne. He's also given many workshops, lectures, and clinics.

Chris Kelsey (All Music)

"...As a trio, however, this group has some power...Doran races through the gamut of jazz rock styles, but with commitment, and his interplay with the formidably agile Studer bears the imprint of many years spend playing together. This trio is a perfect setting for Tacuma's harmonically and rhythmically elastic playing..." (Simon Hopkins, THE WIRE)

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Christy Doran's Phoenix'

(Hat Hut, 1990)

Irish-born, Swiss-bred, Christy Doran is among the least heard — in the U.S. at least — yet most innovative guitarists on either side of the Atlantic. His many bands and guitar duos have taken to stages across the globe as either a collaborator or a sideman. But this date, in a sense, is all his. These very intimate, and often humorous, duo improvisations with a host of innovative musicians create a gem of an album, one that features a stunning array of musical styles and expressions, yet all characterized by the singular, disciplined talent of Doran. On "Beyond Words," Doran and Marty Ehrlich move through a short, slippery Delta-styled blues into an off-Basie jazz mode where Doran's guitar dictates interval and Ehrlich claims the mode. They don't sweep around each other so much as play through the itinerant voicings created by the microtonalities of each instrument — and swing on top of it! On "The Warm Up," Doran and Ray Anderson slide through bebop phraseology toward frenetic harmonics based on major and augmented chords. Anderson strikes out first with lines that quote both J.J. Johnson and Curtis Fuller as Doran trades him a Frippian counterpoint — and via a delay box, plays double counterpoint to his own guitar! "Spiral" with Urs Leimgruber is the monolith on this set. Fifteen-plus minutes of guttural groans, shifting timbres, collapsing overtones, and shimmering harmonics whipped into a spacey intensity that is almost unbearable. Leimgruber is a fiery soprano player. He's sophisticated, inventive, and passionate. Doran's sounds here create an ominous orchestral tension as Leimgruber ghosts his way through in mournful phrases and sonant moans. Hank Roberts' cello is as painterly as Doran's guitar. Sound upon sound, textured ambiences, and chorale lines emanate from both of them on "Song for Sonny." Hendrixian feedback and droning melodies carry the two through each other's voices, creating an openness of intervallic wonder and delight. Doran's Phoenix is an astounding showcase of the colors, textures, tones, and diverse abilities of one of the world's most original guitarists.

Thom Jurek (All Music)

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