Trigonometry Reviews

ALL ABOUT JAZZ BY DAN BILAWSKY 2010 “…Superb saxophone work, intellectually stimulating writing and ingeniously dovetailed rhythmic lines are the three sides that form the musical shape on Trigonometry….” “…Saxophonist/composer Jacám Manricks enjoys creating some rhythmic friction—using different combinations of instruments and musicians within his group—while also treating each piece like a fresh canvas, ready to be turned into high art…” His pleasing and pure-toned sound is used to create a hybrid style that owes as much to classical saxophone writing and left-of-center jazz work as it does to straight ahead music…” “…elegantly gliding over the groove in seven…” “…a luxuriant blend between the different instrumental voices in the group. Fresh harmonies and a unique writing style…” “…Manricks’ soloing is absorbing “…extremely hip…” “…Hushed, mournful tones escape from Manricks’ saxophone, working over a gentle piano and bass presence…”

ALL ABOUT JAZZ BY BRUCE LINDSAY JULY 1ST 2010 “…Jacám Manricks is a rich-toned saxophonist and composer with a growing body of original tunes…” “…terrifically enthusiastic playing…” “…surprise and delight…” “…Uniformly excellent throughout…” “…tight ensemble playing…” “…inventive variations in rhythm and tempo…” “…a flowing, reflective, piece that showcases Manricks and the rhythm section at their most innovative…” “…Manricks’ sax playing is exceptional here, as is the interplay between Manricks and Calvaire which is held together by Martin’s rock solid bass…” “…Manricks’ fine arrangement is beautifully played and blends well with his own original compositions. Trigonometry establishes Manricks as a writer and player of note.

EJAZZNEWS BY GLENN ASTARITA JULY 19 2010 “Saxophonist/composer Jacam Manricks’ 2009 release “Labyrinth,” looms as a captivating artistic statement. Composed for jazz quintet and chamber orchestra, Manricks conveyed great depth and enveloped quite a few jazz-tinged frameworks into the grand schema. Similar attributes emerge on this 2010 follow-up, featuring some modern-day jazz titans amid an aggregation of cunning developments that reveal additional insights on repeated listens. With this effort, he lays out an intricate mosaic of song-forms, spanning odd-metered funk, breezy choruses, buoyant time signatures and much more. But it’s how he interconnects the various parts that yield the bountiful fruit, to complement the band-members’ luminous and at times, gritty soloing spots. On the wittily titled “Cluster Funk,” the leader incorporates R&B and mainstream jazz with a progressive edge, emphasized by the hornists’ punctuating notes. However, Manricks ability to fuse quirky deviations into the roads frequently traversed provides an exciting element, where organized decomposition attains equal ground with structure. His dense compositional methodologies remain true to form on ballads, evidenced by lush voicings, thrusting crescendos and a little big band impetus during the piece titled “Nucleus.” In other regions of the program, Manricks injects staggered flows and off-kilter metrics to coincide with the ensemble’s blitzing unison lines and memorable hooks. No doubt, Trigonometry is a compelling musical study in divergent angles, rolling waves and supple underpinnings. Manricks is supremely educated — he has a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music as well as a Masters Degree in jazz composition and arranging — and his writing embraces straight-eighth rhythmic feels, often in odd or mixed meters, complex harmonies and angular or serpentine melodies. If you need further proof of Manrick’s jazz-nerd credentials, check out some of his song titles: Trigonometry, Micro- Gravity, Aeronautics, Nucleus, and Labyrinth. The more satisfying disc for me is Labyrinth, which seems a little less like a standard studio session and more like a group of elite musicians (guitarist Ben Monder! drummer Tyshawn Sorey! Pianist Jacob Sacks and bassist Thomas Morgan — both associates of alto saxophone firebrand David Binney) united to realize Manricks’ very detailed but forthright music. The debut CD also has a larger sonic palette, with a larger variety of instruments (Manricks on many woodwinds, Monder manipulating his sound and playing acoustic guitar) and even an orchestra well deployed. Squenced for a gradual release of intensity, Labyrinth eases in listeners with a short overture, Portal, which posits a long quirky unison for Manricks’ alto and Monder’s guitar, against the rumbling, percolating accompaniment. It’s like a statement of purpose, making clear that the disc will sit just to the left of jazz’s modern mainstream. Micro-Gravity begins with a duet for Manricks’s pleasingly tart horn and Monder’s smart, shimmering guitar work. A quasi-martial interlude follows, driven by Sorey’s snare-drum work and swathed in a rich, orchestral backing. Monder and then Manricks take incisive, sophisticated solos over a swirl of swings and horns.”

OTTOWA CITIZEN ALTOS OF OUR TIME BY PHUM JULY 20 2010 “…It’s a looser, more conventional disc that has many fine moments…” “…Manricks solos engagingly…” “…music that is pretty first and cerebral second. Mood Swing is a lovely floating ballad. Nucleus is my “…lushly voiced for extra horns…”

NY TIMES LISTING BY NATE CHINEN JULY 30 2010 “…builds on his fascination with convoluted form….” “…well up to the task…”

ALL ABOUT JAZZ BY MARK CORROTTO JUNE 23RD 2010 “…There is a snap to the music of saxophonist Jacám Manricks’ music that calls to mind the invention of bebop…” “…Without looking backwards, this recording re-invents that atmosphere of bop animation…” “… a stellar cast of players…” “…This is snappy and succinct music with particular direction…” “… a certain swing that pleases…” “…Thelonious Monklike…” “…Manricks’ compositions expand into broad harmonies…” “…The overtly smelly “Cluster Funk” recalls some 1960′s chittlin’ circuit sound updated to a Brooklyn hipsters chant…” “…he displays his flawless technique addressing the track with a fluid manner…”

LUCID CULTURE JULY 8, 2010 “…Manricks vaulted into the uppermost echelon of jazz composers with his lushly orchestrated big band masterpiece, Labyrinth, last year. This one reduces the forty-piece orchestra to just a sextet, with hardly any loss of volume, trading sweep and majesty for melody, terseness and a jazz vibe that’s considerably more classic than classical…” “…great success…” “…Manricks buoyant against Calvaire’s aggression…” “…tongue-in-cheek…” “…modallycharged simmer, Manricks bracingly warping in and out…” “…Nucleus makes a big beautiful goldenage style ensemble piece out of a vivid latin-tinged melody a la late 50s Miles…” “…pulsing, shapeshifting…” “…ominous, modal nocturne with masterful touches …expressionistic” “…eerie prismatic glow…” “…ultraviolet ambience …” “…Yet another great new album…”

TIME OUT NEW YORK LISTING JULY 2010 “…Australian saxist-composer Jacam Manricks presents his brainy yet supple postbop…” “…a very strong band…”

RIFFITDES BY DOUG RAMSEY JULY 18 2010 “…The writing skills he displayed on the previous album are in evidence..”. Using trompe l’oreille harmonies, Manricks voices his alto saxophone, Scott Wendholt’s trumpet and Alan Ferber’s trombone to sound like a larger ensemble. “Cluster Funk,” as audacious as its title, is a prime case in point. “…As for Manricks’ own playing, it ranges from heart-on-the-sleeve lyricism in “Mood Swing” to a sort of post-Konitz earnestness in “Slippery” to bounds and leaps reminiscent of Eric Dolphy in, among other pieces, Dolphy’s “Miss Ann.” …”

ALL MUSIC GUIDE BY KEN DRYDEN JULY 2010 “…Manricks has a gift for writing compositions that leave lasting impressions…” His somewhat dark “…Manricks’ alto engaging in a bit of Eric Dolphylike dissonance…” “…Throughout the session Manricks demonstrates that he is well on his way to developing a personal sound on alto…” “…Jacam Manricks is proof that the old saying “Those who can’t, teach” does not apply to jazz educators…”

SOMETHING ELSE BY PICO JULY 2010 “…What’s clear from the first listen of this record is not so much his chops, which are solid as he amply demonstrates on the Eric Dolphy original “Miss Ann,” but the arrangements of his own compositions which make up the remaining nine tracks…” He’s culled together a collection of crack musicians to back him up on this endeavor: Gary Versace (piano), Alan Ferber (trombone), Joe Martin (bass), Scott Wendholt (trumpet) and Obed Calvaire (drums) and selectively employs the services of his non-rhythm section players to fit each song’s requirements…” “…This three-toseven piece band bring out Manricks’ advanced vision for each tune, showing much poise to not overplay as to not disturb the essence of each tune…” “… Manricks loves to integrate knotty rhythms with naturally flowing melodic lines in such a way that attest his aptitude for scoring pieces for full orchestras, as he’s done in the past…” “…shows off Manricks ability to play off of an elliptical beat, finding the right gaps to place his notes…” “…Manricks slyly inserts rhythmic and Monk-like melodic meanderings that makes the song more interesting below the surface…” “…a bevy of both talent and experience…”

Labyrinth Reviews

DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE
BY MICHAEL JACKSON, 3/2010
“…A composer beyond the confines of genre perception…”
“…evocative…meditative…beautifully contoured …”
“…An impressive collection of pieces from New York based Australian born multi-instrumentalist/professor Jacam Manricks, Labyrinth creeps into your ears with a stealthy sketch, half written, half improvised…”
“…Ben Monder drop-shadows the leaders mellifluous alto as bassist Thomas Morgan tip toes and Jacob Sacks scurries the breadth of the keys…”
“…Gorgeously poised saxophone heralds the martial snare of Tyshawn Sorey, expanding to full chamber palette. The orchestral scope of Manricks’ writing is revealed in this Schoenberg-influenced piece…”
“…Monder gets to crank and Manricks throws some grit into the alto’s upper register…”
“…Manricks’ meditative , concentrated thought process distill in “Rothko”, a twelve tone experiement featuring Monder’s cavernously reverberant guitar set against pointillistic piano…”
“…Greg Osby and Steve Coleman’s mercurial concepts and deployment of ostinatos underpinning challenging melody lines are hinted at…”
“…‘March and Combat’ (is) an ambitious, sectioned piece inspired by Ravel and Gil Evans…”

JAZZTIMES
BY SUSAN FRANCES, 06/17/09
“…(Jacám Manricks) has become a pre-eminent performer in his trade…”
“…Manricks probes the dynamic relationship between the intimacy of bop and the concert hall furnaces of string-based symphonies. These two components are coupled beautifully through the floating sensations and flowery plumage that drive the track ‘Micro-Gravity’ …”
“…Labyrinth has the sculpted finery of atmospheric jazz, the spiraling staircases of eclectic jazz, and the tangential angles of avant motifs…”
“…Labyrinth is a piece of work that does for jazz what author Walt Whitman did for existentialism, he gives the genre meaning that people can relate to and apply to their own lives…”

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
BY EYAL HAREUVENI, 11/30/09
“…it is quite rare to find an up-and-coming composer/musician such as Jacám Manricks, who has already developed strong personal compositional skills …”
“…his unique and elaborate compositions reveal a deep knowledge of the jazz bop legacy and modern 20th century music. With an exceptional talent for arranging, his compositions are intelligent and sometimes challenging, defying their exquisite clarity and emotional accessibility…”
“…the opening ‘Portal’ plays with a melody from Claude Debussy’s ‘Syrinx for Flute’, which Manricks—and later Monder—plays beautifully…”
“…’Cloisters’ is another sensitive exploration of angular and rhythmic complex melodies…”
“…The peaceful yet melancholic ‘Aeronautics’ features Manricks’ warm alto sound through carefully built harmonic structures …”
“…’March and Combat’ is a fascinating bolero-like slow waltz …sophisticated melody…”
“… (Manricks) concludes this exceptional release with the sparse ‘Rothko’ … This slow and subtle composition encourages a search deeper into the music…”
“…Manricks is a remarkable composer, and this release is a superb testimony to his capabilities…”

ALL ABOUT JAZZ-NY
BY WILBER MACKENZIE, 11/09
“…The writing displays a vast knowledge of harmony and phrasing, with an ear for stately melodic gesture…”
“…(the record has) this sense of order and attention to detail…”
“… intricate melodies with tight ensemble grooves…”
“…virtuosic solos…”

THE IRISH TIMES (5 STARS)
BY RAY COMISKEY, 9/4/09
“…Balancing cerebral rigour with a kind of grave warmth, Australian composer/multi-reedman Manricks forges this singularly successful marriage of classical and jazz ideas…”
“…With an exceptional band – Ben Monder (guitars), Jacob Sacks (piano), Thomas Morgan (bass) and Tyshawn Sorey (drums) – plus, on two tracks, a chamber orchestra, he references Debussy, Schoenberg and Ravel, as well as Gil Evans, creating distinctively personal compositions whose lucid development, despite their complexity, makes them remarkably accessible…”
“…He’s also a very individual, cliche-free soloist…”
“…a compelling assurance that marks Manricks, first and foremost, as a formidable jazz talent…”

DOWNTOWN MUSIC GALLERY-NY
BRUCE LEE GALLANTER, 6/09
“…This week’s award for best undiscovered gem goes to Jacám Manricks, whose quintet disc with an all-star NY crew has knocked me out…”
“…The title track is stunning, sort of M-Base like but slowed down a bit with a great slow-burning sax solo from Jacám…”
“…exquisite yet melancholic ‘Move’ which features a lovely soprano solo from Jacám …”
…Without a doubt this is this week’s greatest discovery…”

THE MUSICIANS’ OMBUDSMAN
BY GEORGE W CARROLL
“…Elegance is in a word the essence of this wondrous CD project!!…”
“…both a striking and compelling sojourn into jazz and his original musical ideas…”
“…This project is a remarkable testament to the prodigious virtuosity of both Jacám and the bevy of supra-talented musicians he chose for the disc…”
“…We are fortunate to be recipients of Jacám’s vision of music with his extemporized polyphonic original compositions………………And we must revel in it’s artistic self-sufficiency. Encore! Encore!…”

RIFFTIDES
BY DOUG RAMSEY 6/12/09
“…Manricks acknowledges the influence of Debussy, Schoenberg, Gil Evans and Ravel, and although they are detectable, Manricks’ originality is more in evidence…”
“…His strings ensembles float the listener…”
“…His harmonic voicings, uses of powerful rhythms and the electronically manipulated textures of Ben Monder’s guitar are among the elements that make ‘March And Combat’ gripping listening…”
“…Conceptual writing also rules the combo tracks“
“… plenty of stimulating soloing by Manricks…”
“…This one came out of the blue. I’m glad that it did…”

CANADIAN AUDIOPHILE
BY JORDAN RICHARDSON, 6/5/09
“…some of the most brilliant and audacious exchanges of tension and release I’ve heard…”
“…Manricks’ soprano sax is sorrowful and graceful without being overpowering, holding out longer notes with care…”
“…compositions follow smooth, lean grooves and bold, almost painted lines with a sense of fierce unpredictability and flavor…”
“…vivacious and exciting…”
“…Manricks’ work with melodies and counter-melodies is genius…”
“…Manricks is a bold player and composer, brimming with musical adventurousness and feeling. With this free-flowing, almost weightless jazz recording, he has created a Labyrinth well worth meandering through. …”

SUNDAY HERALD SUN
BY ROGER MITCHELL, 7/19/09
“…Jacám Manrick’s second album after Sky’s the Limit is as cool and sophisticated as New York…”
“…There is never a dull moment, yet these carefully crafted compositions are compellingly engaging…”
“… This journey has a twist at every corner…”

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
BY JOHN SHAND, 7/18/2009
“…Jacám Manricks, in many ways epitomises this new wave of jazz writing…”
“…Manricks’ composing demonstrates an astounding ability to make complex music seem breezy to the listener…”

JAZZREVIEW.COM
BY GLENN ASTARITA, 2009
“…Jacám employees a superior quintet and 40-piece chamber orchestra to assist with these enterprising pieces that skirt the fringes of third stream amid the underlying progressive-jazz element…”
“… the compositions, coalesce, intersect and flow within the symphonic-jazz and quintet modes…”
“…No doubt, Manricks is a serious-minded artiste who effectively balances the cerebral elements with a prominently conveyed entertainment factor…”
“…the quintet renders a melange of intricate developments…”
“… the leader of this date stretches out on alto and soprano saxes while softening the pot with textural flutelines during assorted movements…”
“…the musicians generate ample degrees of pop and sizzle, where the orchestra often massages a given chorus or theme…”

HARTFORD COURANT
BY RICHARD KAMINS 8/5/09
“… Jacám Manricks has created a very interesting new recording that features a top-notch ensemble and a group of fascinating compositions…”
“… a work that is complex, subtle and open to interpretation…”
“…Labyrinth” grows on the listener with repeated listenings…”
“…you are likely to be seduced by its beauty, its strength and promise…”
“…they shape their individual voices to the mood and shape of each piece, and how the rhythm section makes the music flow…”

JAZZBEAT
BY CHUCK GRAHAM, WINTER 2009
“…Worthy of concert hall performance…”
“…His subject matter is familiar, yet he gives mountain scapes such majesty his shadows and shapes are creating empty space we can feel inside…”
“…To me the feeling is like the feeling in Ansel Adams’ photographs…”

Concert Reviews

NYC CD LAUNCH CONCERT REVIEW FOR LABYRINTH
BY LUCID CULTURE
The Jacam Manricks Quintet at Smalls Jazz Club,
NYC 5/22/09 May 24, 2009 ·
“…Jacam Manricks has a fluid, fluent approach to the alto sax, but it’s his compositions which are his drawing card – and which may absolutely blow you away. Playing a mix of material mostly from his new cd Labyrinth – recorded with a 40-piece orchestra – the Australian-American composer and his quintet locked in on the songs’ intricate, often epic permutations with intensity and nuance. The bass and drums maintained a sinuous, practically minimalist pulse throughout some awfully tricky changes while pianist Gary Versace colored them with characteristic vividness and frequently outright menace. Perhaps because this was a five-piece playing big band music, the integral nature of the arrangements was especially striking, guitarist Ben Monder completing unfinished piano chords, or Versace doing the same in tandem with the guitar. Sometimes Manricks would do the same in tandem with the bass. Intelligence and imagination lept from the charts with agility and sometimes a wary apprehension.

Aeronautics, a bit of a latin shuffle with sustained, understated, reflective guitar saw Manricks taking a series of fluttery runs through shifting sections of the scale, Versace feeling around for his footing and eventually finding it, rich and ominous. The modal suite Microgravity was a full-scale masterpiece (one can only imagine how lush it sounds with the orchestra on the cd). Manricks opened it brightly, then bass and piano teaming up against guitar and sax, Monder hypnotic and eerie throughout a long series of quavery, reverberating chordal passages that recurred at the end, Versace practically microtonal with his starry, glimmering upper-register work. The cd’s title track, built on a richly melodic, interlocking architecture featured a playful conversation between Versace and the drums. They closed their second set with a new composition, simply titled 2-3-2 with a bouncy, staggered vintage Cuban beat, Manricks warily expansive over some Balkan-inflected changes to an insistent, intensely pulsing crescendo. One can only wonder where someone like Ivo Papasov could take that song. A jazz educator, Manricks doesn’t get the chance to play out as much as he no doubt would like to: if cutting-edge, out-of-the-box stuff is your thing, don’t miss the chance to see him..”
Lucid Culture Concert review www.lucidculture.wordpress.com/
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CANBERRA CONCERT REVIEW
BY ERIC POZZA
“…There was fabulous, intense, closely responsive playing all round. Original compositions and richly reharmonised standards; long complex melodies and charted bass lines in accompaniment; constantly changing implied chordal movements; simple changes that occasionally emerged amongst the reharms; a buoyant extravagance of improvisation. I heard Jacam’s solos as exploring pitch structure and intervallic options within harmonies in a modern bop-influenced style, comfortable with long eighth-note passages which morphed into 16th-notes on call….”

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
BY JOHN SHAND
“…Jacam Manricks breaks the mould by being a star as a composer…. (Manricks) creates sophisticated pieces, some with multiple sections providing different contexts for improvisation, often obliging players to contribute in specific ways to a composition’s shape, rather than just blowing over chord changes. Much more than clever, these pieces take the listener on unfolding journeys….Such juxtapositions were another hallmark of his multi-dimensional composing, whether it was layering tension on lyricism or melodic angularity on a straight groove….If sometimes his sound veered from austere to thin and even shrill, he was still capable of exceptional playing, as on New Bolero, where he daubed coarse-grained, anguished streaks against McAll’s pretty arpeggios…..”
John Shand ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’ June 8th 2008.

CANBERRA CONCERT REVIEW
BY BRENDAN HOLMES
“…Enter Jacam Manricks – mellow, haunting. His lyricism was remarkable… Manricks introduced the first number of the second set with the warning “don’t try this at home”. Creatively titled Number One, it was a full-blown excursion to the avant-garde – a musical Jackson Pollock on speed. The audience loved it…Manricks always conveys the impression that he knows exactly where he’s heading and what he wants to achieve, but there’s absolutely no loss of spontaneity in the feel. He is clearly a highly skilled musician. His Doctor of Musical Arts, and an impressive record of composition, suggests that his knowledge is deep. His playing, his fellow musicians and his audiences are the fortunate beneficiaries…”
Review by Brenton Holmes October 2007

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERLAD
BY JOHN SHAND
“…Manricks’s multi-faceted compositions are highly original in their harmonic and rhythmic language, and the complexity obliges the improviser to maintain strict relevance to the setting. As an alto saxophonist he has an austere sound and his improvising had such precision and rigour about it the casual listener could think everything was composed…”
John Shand ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’ November 2nd 2006.

CANBERRA CONCERT REVIEW
ERIC POZZA
“…JM’s band didn’t disappoint. JM’s original compositions were spikey inventions, with big intervals jumping up and down through sinuous melodies, often with syncopated, written rhythm section accompaniment…the sax solos were initially non-legato, and developed into long, atonal flourishes…There was some complex reading and writing demanded of all the players: good and interesting stuff….”
Canberra Jazz Blog November 2006

LATIN JAZZ CORNER
“… Manricks slowly build(s) his improvisation from a spacious idea into a passionate and screaming declaration….The rhythm section reads Manricks perfectly as he begins his improvisation reflectively, indulging in space and taking his time working the band into a sweltering frenzy on squelching notes, rapid fire melodies, and aggressively interactive playing….Manricks cleverly plays around pieces of the melody before diving headfirst into a stream of bopish ideas that draw an avid response from the rhythm section…..”