blog | ramblings from AJ
Feb 5, 2012
Great new ALDRIC writeup. Best of 2011? Check it out!
Check out the great review that Dave (the AllAboutJazz Download of the Day editor) gave my band ALDRIC's Anvils & Broken Bells. He's been kind enough to include us in his Best of 2011 section. A bit from the lengthy writeup:
...they’ve fused the post-rock of today with the 80s NYC downtown jazz scene skronk & sizzle of Zorn’s Naked City... I keep finding more and better things to appreciate about it, and enthusiastically include it as one of my top recommended albums of 2011. -www.birdistheworm.com
Thanks for the kind words, Dave!
More about the band and record here and here.
Aug 31, 2011
New Allmusic Guide review for Anvils & Broken Bells
Chicago has had an experimental streak in its jazz for some time, with classic free jazz masters (like the Art Ensemble of Chicago) built from the electric blues that hailed from the city. A.J. Kluth's second outing for OA2 shows a new combination of Chicago influences. With a focus on space, pacing, and timbre more than melody, Anvils and Broken Bells manages to become a sonically interesting set. The horns may honk their way through a piece's opening in tandem, but eventually a melodica, with its almost backmasked sound, comes into the scene. A thrashing drum fill changes the pace, and an electric guitar takes over for the rest of a piece. Then, the whole system is reset, wound up, and put back into motion for a new round. The bandmembers work together solidly on the set, all following the composition leads, and all contributing to the controlled chaos that each piece demands. Kluth himself makes headway on the sax, often in tandem with James Davis' trumpet, but the real star of the proceedings is guitarist Toby Summerfield, who evokes bits of John McLaughlin in his electric flights, powering the pieces into and through massive crescendos of sound and leading them into quiet dissipations. It's experimental, it's brash, and it's excellent modern jazz. - Adam Greenberg
Aug 26, 2011
A few new ALDRIC A&BB reviews...
What would be the result of a meeting between jazz, rock, country, and improvisational music? Find out on Anvils and Broken Bells, the second release from saxophonist AJ Kluth. Kluth's musical odyssey explores new ground with a new ensemble, Aldric, a collective comprised of some of the most in demand musicians on the Chicago scene. Led by AJ Kluth, saxophone and melodica, the band also includes guitarist Toby Summerfield, trumpeter James Davis, drummer Quin Kirchner and bassist Dan Thatcher. Eight original numbers are featured on the disc including the riveting "Saskatoon" which is a moody gem informed by Kluth's melodica and Summerfield's guitar. A solid, riveting session.
Tom Hull - Western New England University, Village Voice
Tenor saxophonist, based in Chicago. Second album. Group is electric -- electric guitar ("many buttons & knobs"), electric bass, with both Kluth and trumpeter James Davis credited with effects. Fusion, I suppose, but not a throwback to the 1970s jazz fusion stuff (though maybe Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath): dense sheets of sound, heavy on the heavy, occasional fast breaks. B+(*)
Jul 26, 2011
iTunes Jazz Front Page
ALDRIC is featured on iTunes' jazz front page today with the likes of Randy Brecker, Dave Binney, Dave King, Steve Coleman, etc. Nice. Pick up ALDRIC's Anvils And Broken Bells on iTunes for $7.92, write a review, and dig some new sounds. Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Jul 19, 2011
It's Out.
ALDRIC's new album Anvils And Broken Bells is released today form OA2 Records! Pick it up wherever you like as it's frickin everywhere. iTunes, Amazon, CDbaby, Target, Best Buy, maybe even WalMart, I don't know. For a super special signed copy hit me up at kluth.aj@gmail.com and I'll hook you up my darn self.
Jul 18, 2011
Record Release Tomorrow!
That’s right, ALDRIC’s Anvils and Broken Bells is being released on Seattle’s OA2 records. Get a free download of I Am Wearing A Velvet Jacket from All About Jazz at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/jazzdownload.php?id=6680.
"Editor's comments: So, Paul Motion, Kenny Wheeler, Joe Lovano, and Bill Frisell get lost at sea on a boat. It begins to storm and the wind picks up. The steering is shot, the boat spins out of control, and they decide to spend their last moments alive playing out. That's kinda what this song is like. Pretty cool. Jazz from the Chicago scene."
Dig that.
Jun 21, 2011
HELLOOO CHICAGO FRIENDS.
ALDRIC will be playing our last show in Chicago for a while this Wednesday night. Come get your drank on and hug AJ as he's leaving town for NYC - for real this time. Bill MacKay's fantastic Darts & Arrows hits the first set at 10pm followed by ALDRIC at 11pm. See you there!
BONUS - look for hot dueling bass action with Dan Thatcher and Matt Ulery doubling the bass chair. Hot Hot Hot!
Jun 13, 2011
Well, that was awesome.
We had a great time playing the Old Town Art Fair yesterday afternoon. Thanks to 43rd Ward Alderman Michelle Smith for the great introduction, the Old Town Triangle Association, and Shawn Rios for making it all happen. Oh, and thanks for a keg of amazing beer and some fantastic food. 'Twas a good afternoon indeed. Thanks to Andrew Trim for great picture!
Next up: June 22nd at The Whistler (whistlerchicago.com)!
May 19, 2011
Coming right up...
Also - check out Matthew B Crawford's Shop Class As Soulcraft. (http://www.matthewbcrawford.com/)
“Shop Class as Soulcraft is a beautiful little book about human excellence and the way it is undervalued in contemporary America.”
—Francis Fukuyama, New York Times Book Review
“Matt Crawford’s remarkable book on the morality and metaphysics of the repairman looks into the reality of practical activity. It is a superb combination of testimony and reflection, and you can’t put it down.”
—Harvey Mansfield, Professor of Government, Harvard University
Some heavy and beatifully articulated arguments. Read it, think about it, do it.
Apr 25, 2011
discount. easter. candy
It's that time again. Time to come dangerously close to give myself adult onset diabetes by gorging myself on discount easter candy. So it goes. Avoiding the rain today, listening to Willie Nelson's Stardust, and beginning to get contact info together to start booking a tour for the summer. Going to be a great few months with shows, writing, and rehearsing. I'll (AJ) be relocating to NYC in a few months but look for a few Chicago dates for ALDRIC and a tour supporting the release of Anvils & Broken Bells this July.
About that image - that's the Guidonian Hand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guidonian_hand) and was a Midieval music communication system devised to teach choirs. Instead of handing out sheet music, the director would point to a joint on his hand associated with a pitch. Can't believe it was supplanted by notation. Happy Monday.
Apr 22, 2011
we're here, we're ALDRIC, we're more fun than a salt-lick.
that rhymes. just sayin'.
