Jeff Platz _ chitarra
Blaise Siwuala _ saxofoni
Dmitry Ishenko _ basso
Dave Miller _ batteria _ percussione

Combo creativo di New York, guidato da Jeff Platz con altri ottimi musicisti. L'album è stato registrato nel mese di aprile 2015 al Wombat Studio, Brooklyn, da Ross Bonadonna.
Per maggiori info:
www.jeffplatz.com
www.blaisesiwula.com
www.davemillerdrums.wordpress.com

"(...) Registrato durante un'esibizione live al Wombat Studio a Brooklyn, Modular Systems è realmente un ottimo ascolto. Progettualmente inviso al chitarrista Jeff Platz, è la manifestazione migliore di un campionario di jazz che, per l'occasione, si riversa in un quartetto composto naturalmente da Platz, dal sassofonista Blaise Siwula e dalla sezione ritmica di Dmitry Ishenko (cb) e Dave Miller (bt). Platz è un chitarrista elettrico emergente che raccoglie i frutti di oltre cinquanta anni di creatività nell'improvvisazione: se è vero che stilisticamente tutti i chitarristi di questo genere hanno una forte comunanza nella tipologia prodotta da Derek Bailey, è anche vero che si possono creare delle fertili sessioni che pilotano i risultati verso una propria sintesi. La bravura di Platz sta proprio nel sapere condurre il flusso strumentale creativo, lavorando sullo strumento con tocchi e preparazioni specifiche che in qualche modo fanno pensare alla propulsione di un sistema complementare; l'ambientazione è quella del free jazz espanso con le capacità dei singoli e in Modular Systems le cose funzionano come mai prima: Siwula ha energia e lirismo da vendere in una serata di grazia, mentre Ishenko e Miller sono le sorgenti di quella consueta tela ritmica che fa strabiliare nell'improvvisazione jazzistica. Perciò di Modular Systems non si può far altro che ben parlare, perché dispensa professionalità e larghe associazioni del pensiero." Ettore Garzia, Percorsi Musicali, 2016

"(...) Modular Systems (Setola Di Maiale 3150; Italy) Featuring Jeff Platz on guitar, Blaise Siwula on saxes, Dmitry Ishenko on bass and Dave Miller on drums. Boston-based guitarist Jeff Platz has become more prolific in recent years, leaving us with some five discs in the past year or so. He recently sent us three new ones with varying but related personnel. Saxist Blaise Siwula ran the ABC-No Rio free music series for many years and is even more prolific since starting his own No Frills label. Bassist Dmitry Ishenko worked with John Tchicai and Garrison Fewell. Drummer Dave Miller works here at DMG, plays in Marco Cappelli’s Surf Trio and keeps busy in many assorted projects.
This is a studio date and it is superbly recorded, warm and well-balanced. Mr. Siwula is playing tenor sax here and both he and Mr. Platz sound relaxed. Platz sounds like John Abercrombie at times without ever playing too quickly. The interaction between the sax & guitar, bass and drums is consistently tight and often riveting. You can tell that everyone is listening closely and reacting quickly and getting better as this disc evolves. There is a section where the guitar and sax trade lines, like a spirited conversation that just keeps getting better as it goes. The rhythm team is also consistently impressive and inventive, occasionally leading the way for the rest of the quartet to flow together. The music progresses and gets freer later on yet remains tight with many ideas flowing back and forth, the tempo increasing as the temperature rises higher. Sometimes my favorite improv dates come from musicians you least expect so here is a great example of an excellent date that shouldn’t be ignored. Yes!" Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG, 2016.

"(...) Jeff Platz is a deceptive guitarist. No matter how voluble his associates become, he retains an unruffled composure. And when cast in standard productions, he subverts expectations by outputting progressive concepts only revealing their subversion on reflection.
Saxophonist Blaise Siwula, a free jazz true believer, is Platz’ partner on Modular Systems, alongside bassist Dmitry Ishenko and drummer Dave Miller, who animate the tracks with chunky string thumps and subtle drum accents.
With Siwula’s extroverted multiphonics, expressed most stunningly in the unaccompanied coda to the closing “Raw Vision”, Platz is in the position Jim Hall had with Sonny Rollins. High-energy tracks such as “Just Say So” or “Free Standing” bristle with exaggerated reed slurps and snorts backed by modular basslines and drum rumbles yet Platz follows a singular passage, interpolating relaxed chording when appropriate.
This construction usually involves reed mastication, which shatters narratives into echoing pieces while the guitarist, with magician-like skill, uses accents and plucks to reconstitute figuratively the scraps into a solid object. On “Astronomy, Etcetera”, for instance, focused traverse licks evolve into downwards strums to patch the thematic holes gashed by Siwula’s shamanistic cries. On the title track Platz matches the saxophonist’s whistled echoes and flutter tonguing with slurred fingering, rugged string slashes and broken-octave pulses to meld into one sustainable climax." Ken Waxman, The New York City Jazz Record, 2016.

01 _ Just Say So 7:33
02 _ Your Night, My Day 5:53
03 _ Kiosk Land 4:46
04 _ Astronomy, Etcetera 7:50
05 _ Free Standing 6:38
06 _ Modular Systems 8:17
07 _ Raw Vision 7:22

(C) + (P) 2016

Jeff Platz _ guitar
Blaise Siwuala _ saxophones
Dmitry Ishenko _ bass
Dave Miller _ drums _ percussion

Creative combo from New York, lead by Jeff Platz with other fantastic musicians. The album was recorded in April 2015 at Wombat Studio, Brooklyn and engineered, mixed and mastered by Ross Bonadonna.
For more info:
www.jeffplatz.com
www.blaisesiwula.com
www.davemillerdrums.wordpress.com

"(...) Jeff Platz is a deceptive guitarist. No matter how voluble his associates become, he retains an unruffled composure. And when cast in standard productions, he subverts expectations by outputting progressive concepts only revealing their subversion on reflection.
Saxophonist Blaise Siwula, a free jazz true believer, is Platz’ partner on Modular Systems, alongside bassist Dmitry Ishenko and drummer Dave Miller, who animate the tracks with chunky string thumps and subtle drum accents.
With Siwula’s extroverted multiphonics, expressed most stunningly in the unaccompanied coda to the closing “Raw Vision”, Platz is in the position Jim Hall had with Sonny Rollins. High-energy tracks such as “Just Say So” or “Free Standing” bristle with exaggerated reed slurps and snorts backed by modular basslines and drum rumbles yet Platz follows a singular passage, interpolating relaxed chording when appropriate.
This construction usually involves reed mastication, which shatters narratives into echoing pieces while the guitarist, with magician-like skill, uses accents and plucks to reconstitute figuratively the scraps into a solid object. On “Astronomy, Etcetera”, for instance, focused traverse licks evolve into downwards strums to patch the thematic holes gashed by Siwula’s shamanistic cries. On the title track Platz matches the saxophonist’s whistled echoes and flutter tonguing with slurred fingering, rugged string slashes and broken-octave pulses to meld into one sustainable climax." Ken Waxman, The New York City Jazz Record, 2016.

"(...) Modular Systems (Setola Di Maiale 3150; Italy) Featuring Jeff Platz on guitar, Blaise Siwula on saxes, Dmitry Ishenko on bass and Dave Miller on drums. Boston-based guitarist Jeff Platz has become more prolific in recent years, leaving us with some five discs in the past year or so. He recently sent us three new ones with varying but related personnel. Saxist Blaise Siwula ran the ABC-No Rio free music series for many years and is even more prolific since starting his own No Frills label. Bassist Dmitry Ishenko worked with John Tchicai and Garrison Fewell. Drummer Dave Miller works here at DMG, plays in Marco Cappelli’s Surf Trio and keeps busy in many assorted projects.
This is a studio date and it is superbly recorded, warm and well-balanced. Mr. Siwula is playing tenor sax here and both he and Mr. Platz sound relaxed. Platz sounds like John Abercrombie at times without ever playing too quickly. The interaction between the sax & guitar, bass and drums is consistently tight and often riveting. You can tell that everyone is listening closely and reacting quickly and getting better as this disc evolves. There is a section where the guitar and sax trade lines, like a spirited conversation that just keeps getting better as it goes. The rhythm team is also consistently impressive and inventive, occasionally leading the way for the rest of the quartet to flow together. The music progresses and gets freer later on yet remains tight with many ideas flowing back and forth, the tempo increasing as the temperature rises higher. Sometimes my favorite improv dates come from musicians you least expect so here is a great example of an excellent date that shouldn’t be ignored. Yes!" Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG, 2016.

"(...) Registrato durante un'esibizione live al Wombat Studio a Brooklyn, Modular Systems è realmente un ottimo ascolto. Progettualmente inviso al chitarrista Jeff Platz, è la manifestazione migliore di un campionario di jazz che, per l'occasione, si riversa in un quartetto composto naturalmente da Platz, dal sassofonista Blaise Siwula e dalla sezione ritmica di Dmitry Ishenko (cb) e Dave Miller (bt). Platz è un chitarrista elettrico emergente che raccoglie i frutti di oltre cinquanta anni di creatività nell'improvvisazione: se è vero che stilisticamente tutti i chitarristi di questo genere hanno una forte comunanza nella tipologia prodotta da Derek Bailey, è anche vero che si possono creare delle fertili sessioni che pilotano i risultati verso una propria sintesi. La bravura di Platz sta proprio nel sapere condurre il flusso strumentale creativo, lavorando sullo strumento con tocchi e preparazioni specifiche che in qualche modo fanno pensare alla propulsione di un sistema complementare; l'ambientazione è quella del free jazz espanso con le capacità dei singoli e in Modular Systems le cose funzionano come mai prima: Siwula ha energia e lirismo da vendere in una serata di grazia, mentre Ishenko e Miller sono le sorgenti di quella consueta tela ritmica che fa strabiliare nell'improvvisazione jazzistica. Perciò di Modular Systems non si può far altro che ben parlare, perché dispensa professionalità e larghe associazioni del pensiero." Ettore Garzia, Percorsi Musicali, 2016

01 _ Just Say So 7:33
02 _ Your Night, My Day 5:53
03 _ Kiosk Land 4:46
04 _ Astronomy, Etcetera 7:50
05 _ Free Standing 6:38
06 _ Modular Systems 8:17
07 _ Raw Vision 7:22

(C) + (P) 2016