All Music Guide: Best Jazz Albums of 2009
All About Jazz-New York: Best New Releases of 2009
Ethan Iverson of The Bad Plus (plus):
“A classic recording that should have the widest possible audience.”
"This 65-minute improvised set is a success of the highest order. It’s an auspicious debut to say the least…establishing the trio as a powerful entity via the formidable amount of magic that transpires throughout the performance." –PopMatters
“..these three musicians interrogate one another with patience and poise. Mr. Cleaver, a drummer, and Mr. Parker, a bassist, both resist the easy pull of tempo; Mr. Taborn, on piano, filters every melodic urge through a fractured prism.” –The New York Times
"Fully improvised, the trio's poetic abstractions have a pastoral side that comes from digging the soil and growing something valuable. It's a testament to rumination, and whether they're storming or floating, the kinetics are the compelling kind." –Village Voice
"This trio delights in free improvisations full of a remarkable variety of color, texture, energy, and melody. Yet despite the wide range and contrasts, the music never loses its coherence or sense of purpose. Like the farmers of the album’s title, this trio excels at planting kernels of sound and letting the music flower and flourish."
–Point of Departure
“Free jazz and free improv do mainly hail from – and thrive in – urban centers, but seldom have they felt this organic. The title hints at the teeming life to be found inside this music. It gives up its secrets slowly, but the gems hidden in this sonic earth are plentiful, poetic, and remarkable.” –All Music
“Three of the most accomplished musicians to be found anywhere, in a completely extemporaneous setting. The level of interactivity is at a ridiculously sophisticated height .. the immersed listener will find it a most invigorating ride.” –Creative Loafing
“This is music of diversity, thoughtfulness and commitment, and an object lesson in spontaneous composition.” –Exclaim!
A fully improvised communion of three of America's masters of music. The manifest intent: sowing seeds of sound and bringing them to full blossom. Abstract, organic and fully inviting in the process. Recorded live at NYC's new music venue The Stone, this presents the entire concert of June 19, 2008, which was the third full-improv meeting of drummer Gerald Cleaver, bassist William Parker, and pianist Craig Taborn. Following their second communion, William Parker was glowing as he told us of the performance in the midst of which his bass began to levitate. We needed to capture their next one! An immersive experience yielding magic and inducing a calming mystical ambience. What an arc! They are tapping into the nexus of regeneration here.
Long out of print on CD, we are very stoked to finally have this recording available again in its full resolution glory.
credits
released February 10, 2009
All compositions by
Gerald Cleaver (Gerald Cleaver Music, SESAC)
William Parker (Centering Music, BMI)
Craig Taborn (Light Made Lighter Music, BMI)
Recorded live in concert by Jon Rosenberg at The Stone, NYC
on June 19, 2008. Assistant live engineer: Jonah Rosenberg.
Mixed with and mastered by Jon Rosenberg.
Produced by Gerald Cleaver and Steven Joerg
Photography/design by Ming@AUM
Farmers By Nature : Gerald Cleaver / William Parker / Craig TabornNew York, New York
Farmers By Nature are drummer Gerald Cleaver, bassist William Parker, and pianist Craig Taborn. Master musicians
all.
When they come together as FBN, it is as a wholly improvised & fully realized unit. Each of their rare meetings are auspicious events which present sonic cinema of the highest order.
supported by 22 fans who also own “Farmers By Nature”
I really appreciate that with such a large group of musicians the overall sound and experience of listening is really spacious, never cluttered. The lovely recording helps that a lot, and of course the compositional aspects that make it breathe are superb- it gets more and more fun as I listen again and again. Jasper Skydecker
supported by 22 fans who also own “Farmers By Nature”
Amazing and immersive. Constructed with such forward motion I forgot where I was and nearly got run over by traffic. Doesn’t get better than that. EmmaH
The seventh full-length from De Beren Gieren walks the line between spooky library music and free improv, shapeshifting constantly. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 12, 2024
supported by 19 fans who also own “Farmers By Nature”
It's almost hard to believe there's any space for Tim to fit in when they play this stuff as a duo! The magical uber-complex counterpoint flowing from and resolving to the killer tunes has a similar feel to the full band Berne but these are clarifying in their complexity - you can understand all the moving parts on the same level. Also perhaps the best showcase of Mr Mitchell's solo skills I've heard - he's fully in his element! Giles