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Barry Altschul

Barry Altschul is a drummer who gained fame in the late 1960s with the pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea, playing in the "outside" style of jazz that had been evolving steadily since the innovations of Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane. His first major gig in the late 1960s was with Paul Bley's trio. In 1969 he joined with Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Anthony Braxton to form the group Circle. At the time, he made use of a high-pitched Gretsch kit with add-on drums and percussion instruments, which he integrated seamlessly in a whirlwind of sound. No one sounded quite like him at the time, and his nuclear energy served him well when he teamed up with Sam Rivers and Anthony Braxton throughout the 1970s.

Altschul also made a few albums as a leader, but after the mid-1980s he was rarely seen in concert or on record. Recently, he has become a little more visible again, with two sideman appearances on the CIMP label with the FAB trio (with Billy Bang and Joe Fonda) and the bassist Adam Lane. Altschul has played or recorded with many musicians, including Roswell Rudd, Dave Liebman, Andrew Hill, Sonny Criss, Hampton Hawes, and Lee Konitz.

Álvaro Torres Trio: Iris

by Dan Bilawsky
September 27, 2024

At the age of 19, the Madrid-born, globe-hopping pianist Álvaro Torres fantasized about a life in New York, surrounded by influences and inspiration(s). And at the age of 29, he's living that dream. Studies at the Manhattan School of Music offered an initial pathway into all that the Big Apple has to offer, and life beyond that institution ultimately yielded two important musical relationships, a new trio and this gripping date. In the process of sewing himself ...

Album Review

Barry Altschul, David Izenson, Perry Robinson: Stop Time: Live At Prince Street, 1978

Read "Stop Time: Live At Prince Street, 1978" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 8, 2024

If at all familiar to modern day listeners, David Izenzon's name is most likely to ring a bell for his bass wizardry on Ornette Coleman's two-volume At The Golden Circle Stockholm (Blue Note, 1965). But the archive recording Stop Time is a reminder of just what listeners are missing. Izenson remained active well after his sojourn with Ornette, playing in New York City, with the likes of Jaki Byard and Paul Motian, until his untimely death in 1979, aged 47. ...

Album Review

A.R.C.: A.R.C.

by Mike Jurkovic
September 18, 2023

Without the exploding theorems of multi-reedist/composer/alchemist Anthony Braxton, A.R.C., the multifarious rhythm trio of Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul, continue the grand work of the short-lived (but most esteemed) quartet Circle on this 1971 reissue and remaster of the exploratory and free flying A.R.C. Corea, who, after a short solo turn would soon break the realm with Return To Forever is especially feisty here, as too is Holland, who would a year hence record Conference of ...

Album Review

Paul Bley Trios: Play Annette Peacock Revisited

Read "Play Annette Peacock Revisited" reviewed by Maurizio Comandini

by Maurizio Comandini
June 26, 2023

Questi bellissimi quattordici brani sono stati registrati nel 1966 (i primi otto) e nel 1968 (i restanti sei). Tutti sono stati scritti da Annette Peacock e registrati dal trio di Paul Bley, assieme a brani di altri compositori, per poi essere pubblicati nei mesi successivi alla registrazione stessa. Questo eccellente CD della Ezz-Thetics estrae e raggruppa in un unico album i brani scritti dalla compagna di Paul Bley con una iniziativa geniale che mette in grande evidenza la singolarità della ...

Album Review

Gebhard Ullmann / Steve Swell / Hilliard Greene / Barry Altschul: We're Playing In Here?

Read "We're Playing In Here?" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
January 7, 2023

For musicians, one consolatory by-product of lockdown was the chance to reappraise the archives, which led to a subsequent bonanza of deserving material reaching the marketplace. Whether that was the genesis of the limited edition LP We're Playing In Here? is a moot point, but this 2007 studio recording by the Gebhard Ullmann / Steve Swell Quartet certainly more than justifies release. It is the fourth album by what was a cracking band, although it actually predates the outfit's second ...

Album Review

Ricky Ford: The Wailing Sounds of Ricky Ford: Paul’s Scene

Read "The Wailing Sounds of Ricky Ford: Paul’s Scene" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
May 24, 2022

Is there a more underrated player than Ricky Ford? On any horn? Perhaps the fact that he took over Paul Gonsalves' chair in the (Mercer) Ellington orchestra when he was still a kid led people to think he had yet to prove himself. There was a brief stint with Charles Mingus. And there was his association with Lionel Hampton as a featured soloist. Ford showed up in a number of bands, most notably with Tom Harrell in Play ...

Album Review

OGJB Quartet: Ode To O

by John Sharpe
May 14, 2022

An assemblage of stars doesn't always result in a constellation. But astronomers will need to take note in the case of the OGJB Quartet, called after the forename initials of the four members: reedman Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul. On the venerable collective's second album Ode To O following their eponymous debut in 2019, one of the most striking traits is how much they sound like a band. As might be expected in ...

Contest

Enter the "Barry Altschul - The 3dom Factor" Giveaway at All About Jazz!

Source: All About Jazz
March 15, 2013

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the TUM Records “Barry Altschul - The 3dom Factor“ giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on April 15th. Click here to enter the contest

(Becoming a fan of Barry Altschul at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.)

Good luck! Your Friends at TUM Records About The 3dom Factor

The 3dom Factor is the first new album under the leadership of master ...
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Recording

Jon Irabagon Featuring Barry Altschul - Foxy (2010)

Source: Something Else!
September 6, 2010

By Pico When Jon Irabagon signed with the mighty Concord Records after bagging the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition for saxophone, you might assume that he would have left behind his wild side to become a more “serious" player. But his continued involvement in the gangsta jazz group Mostly Other People Do The Killing quickly dispelled any such notion. On September 14, J.I. further makes another statement that fame and acclaim hadn't changed him with his followup to the ...
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Radio

Ullman/Swell 4 Tet with Barry Altschul in Ann Arbor, 5-2; Live from Blue Lake, 5-4 @ 8PM

Source: All About Jazz
April 29, 2008

Interview

Drummer Barry Altschul Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
February 19, 2008

Born in the Bronx on January 6, 1943, drummer Barry Altschul was quickly ensconced in the hard bop scene of the late 1950s, but it was a gig with pianist Paul Bley's trio that put him among the ranks in New York's burgeoning free-jazz scene of the next decade, one which resulted in tours of Europe and a slew of recordings with Bley.

Altschul also worked regularly with staunchly avant-garde reedmen Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers throughout the 1970s, though ...
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168

Performance / Tour

Fab Trio Joe Fonda, Barry Altschul, & Billy Bang Sweet Rhythm Fri. & Sat. Feb 8 & 9 Sets @ 8PM 10PM & 12PM

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
February 8, 2008

F A B Trio Joe Fonda, bass Barry Altschul, drums Billy Bang, violin at Sweet Rhythm 88 Seventh Avenue South (at Bleecker St) New York, NY 10014 (212) 255-3626 Fri. & Sat. Feb 8 & 9 Sets @ 8pm 10pm & Midnight Manhattan-based bassist Joe Fonda assembled this unconventional trio on an uncanny hunch that the combination of sonorities and ...
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107

Performance / Tour

Fab Trio Joe Fonda, Barry Altschul, & Billy Bang Sweet Rhythm Fri. & Sat. Sep 28 -29 Sets @ 8PM 10PM & 12PM

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
September 18, 2007

F A B Trio Joe Fonda, bass Barry Altschul, drums Billy Bang, violin THEIR NEW YORK CITY DEBUT! at Sweet Rhythm 88 Seventh Avenue South (at Bleecker St) New York, NY 10014 (212) 255-3626 Friday, Sep 28 Sets @ 8pm 10pm & 12pm Saturday, Sep 29 Sets @ 8pm 10pm & 12pm Manhattan-based bassist Joe Fonda assembled this unconventional trio ...
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121

Performance / Tour

Firehouse 12 to Present the Ullmann/Swell 4tet Featuring Barry Altschul

Source: Improvised Communications
February 28, 2007

Friday, March 30th at 8:30 and 10:00 p.m. Ullmann/Swell 4tet featuring Barry Altschul Firehouse 12 45 Crown Street in New Haven, CT Click HERE for tickets and venue information

Gebhard Ullmann, tenor saxophone and bass clarinet; Steve Swell, trombone; Hilliard Greene, bass; Barry Altschul, drums

On Friday, March 30th, New Haven's Firehouse 12 will present a two-set performance by the all-star Ullmann/Swell 4tet. Co-led by saxophonist/clarinetist Gebhard Ullmann (Basement Research, BASSX3, Conference ...
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