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CG 139
House of Return
Jeff Gauthier
House of Return, Violinist Jeff Gauthier's 5th recording as a leader, moves effortlessly from moody acoustic jazz to creative new music, skronk fusion and electronic space jam. Voted a Rising Star as violinist and producer in the 2007 Downbeat Critics Poll, Gauthier continues his subversive plot to destroy all musical boundaries. House of Return features Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, drummer Alex Cline, pianist David Witham, and bassist Joel Hamilton. BBCi says "Gauthier and his group show how it should be done, rooting themselves solidly in the jazz tradition while at the same time extending and revitalizing it."
Reviews
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Los Angeles based violinist Jeff Gauthier's fifth recording as a leader, House of Return is the third album to feature the capable talents of his self-coined Goatette. A veteran quintet of stellar West Coast improvisers, Gauthier and company work from a varied palette to explore a mix of sound worlds, ranging from thorny progressive fusion and unfettered psychedelia to folksy introspection and lush ballads.
As founder and producer of the adventurous Cryptogramophone label and co-founder of the influential acoustic group Quartet Music in 1979 (with guitarist Nels Cline, bassist Eric Von Essen and drummer Alex Cline), Gauthier's seminal role in the development of progressive West Coast jazz is implicit.
The aforementioned Cline brothers, along with longstanding collaborators, keyboardist Dave Witham and bassist Joe Hamilton, comprise the Goatette. Following a similar pattern to previous releases, Gauthier augments his own originals with pieces written by the Cline brothers and works from the late Von Essen, opening and closing the album with tunes culled from the bassist's deep back catalog.
Melodious and assured, House of Return is Gauthier's most accessible record to date. The session favors acoustic instrumentation with subtle real-time electronic effects that thicken the band's sound without becoming obtrusive. Harmonious and evocative, the luxuriant Von Essen ballads “Biko's Blues” and “Dissolution” inspire some of the Goatette's most sublime work. Nels Cline's languorous meditation ”I.O.A.” and Alex Cline's shimmering tone poem “Dizang” offer ethereal serenity delivered with knowing restraint.
The leader's titular centerpiece, which evolves through numerous changes in mood and dynamics, reveals his classical training. A spare electronic conversation between Gauthier and Nels precedes a knotty theme that yields a swinging piano trio feature in a buoyant 7/4 rhythm. A sequence of concise statements from the remainder of the ensemble ensues, including a plangent solo from the leader that briefly veers into outside territory.
The session's melodic focus doesn't forsake the quintet's power however. “Friends of the Animals,” and ”Satellites and Sideburns” are episodic electro-acoustic workouts that recall the seminal recordings of Weather Report and Lifetime with their angular ornate riffs and violent asymmetrical rhythms. Nels Cline's caustic fret-board shredding and the leader's clarion cadences coalesce with Witham's hazy analog keyboard work in a kaleidoscopic vortex as Alex Cline and Joe Hamilton navigate shifting meters and pulverizing downbeats.
A superlative group effort that displays their empathy for structure and form, as well as their capacity for freewheeling creative expression, House of Return is a gorgeous document from an underexposed West Coast ensemble that deserves wider acclaim. -Troy Collins
Troy Collins All About Jazz [June 7, 2008]
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From the swinging lilt of the noir-ish 3/4 ballad “Biko’s Blues” to the
freeform exchanges on “House of Return” to the Zen-like calm and
hellacious tumult of “Dizang” and the caustic skronking on “Friends of
the Animals,” violinist Jeff Gauthier covers a wide stylistic range
with his five-piece Goatette, an upstart Left Coast outfit now in its
15th year. It’s no wonder that his publishing moniker is Radical
Moodswinger.
The chameleonlike guitarist Nels Cline, noted for his own experimental
Nels Cline Singers and a valuable sideman with the high-profile rock
band Wilco, shows a tastier, more intimate side here, particularly on
the delicate Eric von Essen ballad “Biko’s Blues,” the chamberlike
acoustic closer “Dissolution” and his own ethereal soundscape “I.O.A,”
which recalls the spacious vibe of early Weather Report à la “Scarlet
Woman.” But he also lets his Hendrix-inspired freak flag fly with an
edgy, aggressive, wah-inflected solo on Gauthier’s “Friends of the
Animals” while diving headlong into some Bill Frisell-styled looping
and accelerated guitar effects on the violinist’s complex title track.
Cline pays tribute to the late Joe Zawinul on his urgent, Mysterious
Traveler-inspired “Satellites and Sideburns” and skronks up a storm on
brother Alex’s yin-yang suite “Dizang,” which also serves as a potent
vehicle for some audacious free-jazz bashing by the drumming half of
the Cline twins.
Alex fuels the proceedings with a perfect balance of power, precision
and freedom on the kit while bassist Joel Hamilton provides a solid
anchor through both the swing-oriented and “totally out” fare.
Keyboardist Dave Witham proves equally adept on acoustic piano and
slightly distorted Fender Rhodes electric piano, helping to establish
the proper mood swings from tune to tune. And Gauthier, a remarkably
lyrical player, bold improviser and adventurous spirit, establishes
himself as a formidable bandleader and force to be reckoned with.
Highly recommended for open-minded listeners and fans of genre-bending,
creative instrumental music.
by-Bill Milkowski
Bill Milkowski Jazz Times [October 2008]
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Jeff Gauthier is the head of Cryptogramophone, a Los Angeles label that makes a point of high-quality presentation--handsome packaging and spiffy studio sound--without laying the dead hand of a house style or boutique aesthetic on the music itself. He's also himself a fine violinist, whose main outlet for his own work is the not-quite-self-titled Goatette, a five piece ensemble that includes pianist David Witham, bassist Joel Hamilton, and the unbeatable team of Nels and Alex Cline on guitar and drums. Two spirits preside over their newest disc House of Return: the late Eric von Essen (the previous occupant of the group's bass chair) and the recently departed Joe Zawinul. Gauthier has been a stron advocate over the years for von Essen's work as a composer, and this CD comes bookended by two striking pieces from his hand. "Biko's Blues" is a lush minor-key waltz in a line descended from Johnny Carisi's "Isreal"--the sort of mainstream jazz you wouldn't expect from these guys, but they handle it superbly. "Dissolution" is a more contemporary-sounding piece, a spacey rubato ballad given an unusual coloration by Nels's 12-string guitar; its melody has an intriguing emotional/harmonic contour, constantly swerving away from expected rhapsodic payoffs into darker areas. The rest of the disc is in more of a jazz-rock bag, with excursions into free play and some ambitious multipart structures. Nels's two pieces both reference Zawinul's wrk with Weather Report: "I.O.A" is a mellow groove that gives you the sensation of floating off into space, while "Satellites and Sideburns" is a tasty melange of collectivist sound collage and joyous, tightly scripted grooves, exploring different sides of Weather Report's legacy. Electronics are used in an understated but pervasive way throughout the disc: on the intro to the title-track, for instance, Gauthier and Nels Cline use them to gently squeeze and stretch their instruments sounds; elsewhere, discreet sound-scaping adds freaky touches to the psychedelic rock-out of "Friends of the Animals" and swirling electronic nebulae to Alex Cline's "Dizang." Aside from the Clines and the leader himself, there's the first-rate work from Hamilton and especially the unheralded Witham, a player who really deserves more attention: give a listen to his work on "House of Return" in particular, a slalom course that veers from angular jazz-rock to roiling free jazz to strutting swing. -by Nate Dorward
Nate Dorward Signal to Noise [Fall 2008]
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"... Jeff Gauthier is also dealing with a more usual setting for House of Return but he and his associates - guitarist Nels Cline, pianist David Witham, bassist Joel Hamilton and drummer Alex Cline - throw enough curves to make this outing anything but ordinary Take, for example, the leader's "Friends of the Animals." It's complex from the standpoint of form - it's a triple canon - and electronic effects also complement the quirky tune. The net result thus combines structure with a playful sense of freedom. All of these players are exceptionally pointed soloists but they work together for maximum group communication in tunes that run the gamut from richly lyrical and poignant to odd and idiosyncratic. Gauthier is a volcanic composer and soloist and he demonstrates the violin's continuing vitality." - by Donald Elfman
Donald Elfman All About Jazz [August 2008]
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House of Return is violinist Jeff Gauthier’s latest release for Cryptogramophone Records, on which he presents an understated and beautiful collection of tracks ranging from lyrical modern jazz to collectively improvised texture pieces...
Gauthier is the founder of Cryptogramophone, a label dedicated to progressive music. Its catalog consists of recordings that don’t easily fall into any categories, such as the recent releases from Todd Sickafoose, Bennie Maupin, and Nels Cline. House of Return combines jazz, rock, free improvisation, and electronics into a rich and yet simple mural.
Gauthier’s ensemble, dubbed the “Goatette,” eschews convention while adhering to key principles of accessible music such as lyricism and brevity. Composed of violin, drums, bass, electric guitar, keyboards, and electronics, the ensemble risks growing dense and ugly. However, each member makes his statement in the simplest of terms, giving the group’s sound a reassuring lightness... The disc opens with “Biko’s Blues,” a composition by bassist Eric von Essen, Gauthier’s former collaborator who died in 1997. The track’s lush timbre is a result of the violin’s warm tone masterfully sensitive joint accompaniment by Nels Cline on guitar on David Witham on piano. Each member of the group, aside from drummer Alex Cline, takes a brief solo, and each is sure to maintain the wistful mood of the piece.
A smattering of spacey outbursts introduces the second track, “Friends of the Animals,” which soon gives way into a craggy groove, through which guitar and keyboard effects bubble and pop. Alex Cline drives the song with his quirky beat, ramping his intensity over hammering vamps. Bassist Joel Hamilton’s brief and flittering outpouring marks a point of high excitement, an unusual feat for a bass solo.
The title track begins with a mischievous improvisational conversation between the violin and the guitar, and the song’s structure moves between improvised sections of a similar nature, and driving, stately, composed sections... Overall, “House of Return” is an example of the promise that progressive, genre defying improvised music holds. It is exciting to imagine what Gauthier and the other artists on Cryptogramophone have in store. - by Jacob Teichroew
Jacob Teichroew About.com [August 2008]
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Jeff Gauthier is in a distinct minority, having made eclecticism a virtue as a musician, label founder and producer. Spanning wispy ballads and thumping fusion lines, House of Return, the violinist’s fifth as a leader, is as resolutely all over the lot as the Cryptogramophone catalog.
Were it not for the obviously close rapport between Gauthier and his cohorts, this would be a scatter-shot, if not schizoid album. However, essential continuity is provided by Gauthier’s 30 year history with the Cline twins Nels and Alex. They were three-quarters of Quartet Music, a woefully unheralded acoustic group that included the late bassist Eric Von Essen, whose nuanced compositions still loom large in his colleagues’ repertoire. Von Essen’s “Biko’s Blues” opens the album with the mix of airiness and melancholy Wayne Shorter coined on his early Blue Note dates, while “Dissolution” surrounds a heart-rending melody with swells of brushed drums and cymbals, 12-string guitar and piano. They don’t just bookend the album, they gauge the depths the Goatette explores.
There are sufficient reminders of these capacities in the intervening tracks. Some are improvised, like Gauthier and guitarist Nels Cline’s flinty duet on the violinist’s often searing title-track. Others reflect well-honed compositional strategies, like drummer Alex Cline’s use of delicate violin-led lines on “Dizang.” Initially, they cohere washes of gongs, electric guitars and keyboards, and then soothe the ensuring, seething ensemble improvisation. Subsequently, the occasionally obtuse effect and pugilistic passages are distractions, not deal-breakers. Still, someone almost instantly steps to the foreground to reengage the listener, and it is just as likely that it is bassist Joel Hamilton or keyboardist David Witham who provides the spark as it is Gauthier or either of the Clines, a measure of the well-balanced talents that comprise the Goatette. - by Bill Shoemaker
Bill Shoemaker Downbeat [September 2008]
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House of Return is violinist Jeff Gauthier's fifth release as the
leader of this group. The band includes Gauthier (also producer), Nels
Cline on guitar, David Witham on keyboards, Joel Hamilton on bass, and
Alex Cline on percussion. As any unconventional music lover knows, each
of these musicians has a long resume outside of this band, and the
versatility and adventurousness of the musicians is well-represented on
this release. The Jeff Gauthier Goatette's sound is reminiscent of that
of Weather Report, and in fact the Zappa-ish "Satellites and Sideburns"
is an homage to the recently deceased Joe Zawinul.
The pieces on this CD vacillate between fusion and free, or
improvisational jazz. Gauthier plays both acoustic and electric violin
on this release. Like most improvisational music, many of the pieces
lack a regular rhythm. Notable tracks include:
The first track is "Biko's Blues." It is the most conventionally
"jazz" of the tracks on this recording. It begins with keyboards and
the violin creeping in. This duet with the piano is then followed by a
composition such that no one instrument stands out. This is followed by
a violin solo, a syncopated sound over the steady drone of the rest of
the quartet. Standard bass and guitar solos in this piece allow for a
fitting introduction to each musician's work in this project.
The second track is "Friends of the Animals." The sound is much more
complex, reminiscent of animal sounds. "I.O.A." follows, a quieter,
dreamy piece, a soundscape. The violin peeks in with quiet trills and
arpeggios.
The fourth track, "House of Return," is also ambient at the
beginning, but breaks into a lively free for all. The violin solo in
"Dizang" breaks my heart - a melody above an atonal soundscape drifting
into more melodic sound. Parts of this piece, like all great
experimental jazz, elicit anxiety in the listener.
Free jazz fans will find this a necessary addition to their collection. -by "Gette"
Gette Blog Critics Magazine [August 2008]
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Jeff Gauthier is the man behind the sterling record label Cryptogramophone, an LA-area enterprise that has been releasing some of the most glorious independent jazz of the last several years. Crypto has given voice to several major talents—including guitarist Nels Cline, violinist Jenny Scheinman, and reed giant Bennie Maupin—and it turns out that one of those talents is Gauthier himself.
Gauthier has long been deeply involved in essential West Coast jazz, beginning with handling the violin duties in Quartet Music, the 1980s band led by bassist and composer Eric von Essen and featuring the Cline twins, Nels and Alex, on guitar and drums. Gauthier’s “Goatette” is in many ways the contemporary successor to Quartet Music, with the Clines still along for the ride, Joel Hamilton in the bass chair, and David Witham adding piano and keyboards. The group always records at least one von Essen tune (here, “Biko’s Blues” and “Dissolution"), as well as originals by Gauthier and the Clines—continuing the notion of a jazz collective.
Also being continued on House of Return is a tradition of jazz inclusion and stylistic open-mindedness. Quartet Music is said to have started as a response to the band Oregon—a group that championed a delicate kind of chamber jazz that blended melodicism, freedom and what would come to be called World Music. The Goatette dips into various strains of “free jazz”, mainstream post-bop jazz, and fusion to create an unusually wide-ranging sound. There are very few groups in contemporary jazz that try this, much less make it work as consistently well as does the Goatette. Best of all, Gauthier mixes these influences in a way that is not a confusing patchwork. The Goatette has a singular sound that is relatively consistent from tune to tune.
“Friends of the Animals” makes the case nicely. The Gauthier-penned tune begins with a groove bassline emerging from various eeks and electronic onks, leading to a sharp and snappy melody for violin and guitar that would not sound entirely out of place on a Lee Morgan album from 1966. Witham accompanies not only on Fender Rhodes but also with some spacey effects that beautifully complement the mad guitar solo by Nels Cline—not a clean jazz sound here but rather an amped-up mountain of controlled noise that spurs Alex Cline to polyrhythmic heights. When the violin returns with a lovely suspended melody, it’s like clouds parting, leading to Gauthier’s own sliding solo, drenched in blue notes.
Fans of the guitarist will be pleased with his two themes here. “I.O.A.” is minor-mode melody over a mid-tempo backbeat and a bed of fat Rhodes chords. The solo section is less a set of driving jazz solos than an exercise in creating texture, with Witham and Gauthier each sculpting the sound of the collective in turn. “Satellites and Sideburns” starts with a series of three electronic fanfares over splashing drums, then it opens up a huge space for jamming, with the band starting in abstraction then settling into a funky churn—which eventually leads back to a written unison melody that brings it all together in a percussion breakdown. It’s not your daddy’s jazz song, and it will shake your bottom, too.
The band is hardly restricted to smart fusion, however. Alex Cline’s pensive “Dizang” has a cinematic feeling, as the rhythm section conjures a smoke-filled landscape over which Gauthier and Nels Cline sculpt a stately melody, only to have the tune explode into free-form play at the midpoint. When the melody returns, the frenzy of drums and bass simply continues and increases, as if Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison had come on board. The title track gives Witham a chance to work out more dangerously on acoustic piano, and Nels Cline plays with relatively straight jazz tone. But the tune retains a sense of adventure, with both the introduction (for Nels and Gauthier only) and the first solo section being entirely free.
Throughout, the Goatette is happy to keep you guessing, waiting to see which of its traits predominates each tune. It is a very effective tactic, and one that an artist might try only if he or she was very tight with the executive producer and head of the label. Not a problem for Jeff Gauthier, who fills all these roles with grace.
This band is so nicely balanced that there is little temptation to think of it as being a novelty band—a jazz group led by a violinist. Still, it’s worth noting that Gauthier handles his fiddle with confidence and flexibility as a jazz player. He bends notes and plays blues without sacrificing his intonation, and he dodges comparisons to players like Jean-Luc Ponty, who pioneered the violin in contemporary jazz through his association with Frank Zappa and John McLaughlin. Gauthier handles himself with lyricism, but not too much lyricism—with electric aggression, but not too much fusion-y technique. One wonders if it isn’t time for Gauthier to start cracking the jazz polls as an increasingly capable hand on one the music’s least obvious instruments.
House of Return is a sharp reminder that the new jazz on the best independent labels exists both outside stylistic boundaries and within a careful understanding of history by the players. Not only should Gauthier’s wonderful Cryptogramophone label be on your radar, but the Goatette too—despite its goofy name—looks like a band to keep track of. -by Will Layman
Will Layman Pop Matters [8/1/08]
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These guys have some good tunes, but they sound best when they’re just tuning in and taking off. Anyone who understands improvisational music would never, ever underestimate the value of a long musical association, and look at these mothers: As three-quarters of the L.A. chamber-jazz ensemble Quartet Music, violinist Jeff Gauthier, guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Alex Cline first got together three decades ago and have never ceased to interact for more than a few months. “House of Return” represents keyboardist David Witham’s and bassist Joel Hamilton’s third Goatette album, the first being “Mask” in 2002, and they were in the loop with the others well before that. A real team.
To add a further dimension of ectoplasmic memory, Gauthier graces each Goatette record with a composition or two -- this time the opening and closing tracks -- written by the fourth Quartet Musician, the late bassist Eric Von Essen. The EVH title “Dissolution” ends up being ironic, as it embodies just the opposite, an intuitive union: The five start by pinging, dinging and wailing softly together, so you can hardly tell who’s who; after a snatch of Miles Davis/Wayne Shorter’s “Circle in the Round” (for historical context), they coalesce around a melody so beautiful it could have been a romantic movie theme if it didn’t ring so real, and Nels’ acoustic guitar frames its simplicity with pointillistic modern chord variations that glow with sheer genius, whether Eric’s or his own.
In contrast to Gauthier’s sweet & sad fiddle, Nels strikes a fit balance via nasty underwater noise on the choppy Balkan folk of Gauthier’s “Friends of the Animals,” and through his waka-jawaka Shaft wah on his own “Satellites and Sideburns,” whose Arabic riff doesn’t drift in till the band has buzzed up a long multihued electro-Miles improvisation grooved by Alex’s speedbag rabbit-punching on the party balloon. On Alex’s highly abstract “Dizang,” Witham’s alien synth vibrations and Rhodesy dewdrops, along with Alex’s more destination-conscious evocations of Rashied Ali, connect the tissue behind Gauthier’s emotional violin narrative. Hamilton’s resiny lowness (perfectly recorded by Mike Aarvold) shines in his tumbling solo on von Essen’s resigned waltz “Biko’s Blues.”
Some of the violin riffs are unmotivating, as on the 6/4-to-4/4 title track; any deficits are soon forgotten, though, in the midst of the band’s energetic fuguing, Gauthier’s most intense solo, and the swelling low press Alex scares up at the end.
You may find yourself pondering the layered meanings of the illustrated flash cards that decorate the package, designed by “Gareth Jiffeau.” The new Nostradamus arises. - by Greg Burk
Greg Burk Metaljazz.com [June 2008]
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When attempting to get an indie avant-jazz band recorded, it helps if you own the label. But Jeff Gauthier's Goatette could stand on its own even if Cryptogramophone weren't his imprint. The violinist's group features pleasingly omnipresent guitarist Nels Cline and his drummer brother, Alex Cline, alongside bassist Joel Hamilton and keyboardist David Witham. The gentle, soothing opener, "Biko's Blues," predicts a relaxing trip drifting downriver. But the second track, "Friends of the Animals," quickly demonstrates why Gauthier, Witham and Nels Cline are all credited with "effects," as the ensemble transforms into an unholy, heart-pounding amalgam of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report and Sonic Youth. Cline's distorted guitar lines meld with Gauthier's electrified violin and liquid organ lines from Witham, while Alex Cline's home-run swing drives it all. Unfortunately, "I.O.A.," "House of Return," and "Dizang" follow and taken together, create a pastoral atmosphere that lingers for the next half hour. But eventually, the album regains momentum and vitality with "Satellites and Sideburns," so named because it sounds like a combination of 70's Miles - Gauthier's violin imitates a wah-wah trumpet quite well - and instrumental Frank Zappa. Finally, a drum solo by Alex Cline concludes the album with something between an avalanche and a demolition derby. Members of the Goatette wore their influences like merit badges while producing this highly rewarding work. - by Phil Freeman
Phil Freeman Jazziz [September 2008]
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