Track Listings (8) - Disc #1| All Artists: Von Freeman Title: Improvisor Members Wishing: 1 Total Copies: 0 Label: Premonition (Emd) Release Date: 8/27/2002 Genres: Jazz, Pop Style: Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPCs: 669179075723, 0669179075754 |
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Search - Von Freeman :: Improvisor
 | Von Freeman Improvisor Genres: Jazz, Pop
It has been like pulling teeth to get octogenarian tenor saxophonist Von Freeman to take much interest in playing outside his Chicago hometown. So the Premonition label, rightly, brings us to the mountain, recording Freema... more » |
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Amazon.com It has been like pulling teeth to get octogenarian tenor saxophonist Von Freeman to take much interest in playing outside his Chicago hometown. So the Premonition label, rightly, brings us to the mountain, recording Freeman (and scraps of audience conversation) at his local haunts. Freeman is something of an anomaly, growing up with early bebop but taking his Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins influences and running them through with open-ended elements such as an elastic sense of rhythm and a wavering, nearly out-of-tune tone. Regardless of where he is wandering, he always takes listeners with him. Here Freeman is joined by his gritty regular working quartet for four tracks and by the elegant young pianist Jason Moran for two (one as duo, one with Moran's trio). Freeman is game throughout, but his soul-baring solo rendition of "If I Should Lose You" is so telling that you almost feel you've known the man his whole life. --Tad Hendrickson Similar CDs
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CD ReviewsA Chicago Landmark John F. Temmerman | Skokie, Il United States | 02/02/2003 (5 out of 5 stars) "Von Freeman, an iconoclastic jazzman, a tenor sax player, is a fixture on the Chicago jazz Scene. Long regarded as among the top players in town, he still gigs regularly in a weekly jam session he heads on the south side of town weekly, among many other venues. He does all this at the age of 79.Von's style is all his own. Clearly having learned the lessons of Bebop, he chooses instead to play inside changes when he wishes with an outside (free jazz) tone, again when he wishes, playing lines with incredible speed and dexterity.This live CD does not disappoint. It opens with a short warmup, then Von playing solo (as in without anybody else) on the standard If I Should Lose You. His playing on this cut is especially notable. Playing alone on sax is tough. Real tough. He manages to outline the changes when he wishes, plays with a solid command of time and with a big yet lyrical sound when he chooses a different sound from his free jazz tone. Next are the first 4 quartet cuts, Ski-Wee (A Freeman original, based on the chords of How High The Moon/Ornithology), a burning version of What Is This Thing Called Love, Darn That Dream and a deliberate version of Blue Bossa. His regular quartet, with Mike Allemana on guitar, Jack Zara on bass and Michael Raynor on drums, sounds great, with the tightness born from years of playing together.The last 2 cuts are from a different venue, with a different band. Cut 7 is a slow blues, a Freeman original called Blues for Billie, with Jason Moran on piano, Mark Helias on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums. The final cut is a duo between Freeman and Moran, on the beautiful Duke Ellington tune, I Like The Sunrise.The thing that really struck me about Freeman on this CD is his versatility of tone. On Darn That Dream, he plays the head with a darkness reminiscent of Dexter Gordon, before he explores the outer limits of his tone and dexterity. It is absolutely unique for a player to have as much versatility and control in tone as Freeman. His technique is impeccable as well. And, lastly, nobody - I mean NOBODY sounds like him. Certainly Freeman is an acquired taste, but there's plenty here for anybody who appreciates jazz on the tenor sax."
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