DANA FITZSIMONS with BILL GRAHAM & BRANDON BOONE - Fault Lines
Dana Fitzsimons self-release
Bill Graham (Acoustic Piano); Brandon Boon (Upright Bass); Dana Fitzsimons (Drums)
Recorded at Studio 1093, Athens, Georgia, USA - January 3-4, 2022
Dana Fitzsimons tells us that the trio had met a few times before the COVID pandemic lockdown and that the rapidly developing situation precluded any possibility of live performances or collective development. They were then isolated from each other for two years before getting into a studio together, when they found that their original stimulus was not diminished but was sharper and more insistent. Fault Lines is the result of their recording and there is a clear collusion between Free-improv and composition that allows the trio to reconnoitre new pathways.
Fitzsimons is a graduate of the Ithaca College School of Music, NY, where he first studied trumpet. He also took a law degree at William & Mary Law School Williamsburg, Virginia, switching to drums. Boone and Graham are also drummers, so the rhythmic quality of their new music should not surprise. Brandon Boone graduated from Kennesaw State University, Georgia while Bill Graham started on drums, his professional work now extending into teaching methods and approaches to jazz performance. He has an instructional programme on YouTube.
The album is a mix of six original pieces, accompanied by five ballads ‘from yesterdays’ and the two groups are more than suitable foils for each other. Crystals, for example, is an impulsive, unprompted improvisation from the whole troupe. It’s a bit like a kaleidoscopic image, holding itself together even though there is no composed musical framework to lend it support. Compare this to Joni Mitchell’s Amelia at the end and feel that counterbalance. Free-jazz or Avant-garde it may not be, absolutely, but free-style it certainly is and this trio certainly shows that it understands collaboration. It is also clear that the music the trio were aiming for would require them to listen, closely, to each other. This has been said before.
These expressive, eccentric and sophisticated works are engaging throughout. Fault Lines is jam-packed with optimistic dynamism and Fitzsimons’ inclination towards free-style is clearly seen. Nevertheless, wishing to maintain both lyric and rhythm in order to keep the music inviting “even to those not accustomed to listening to Free-jazz", the music on FAULT LINES is audacious, creative, and lyrical.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
Dana Fitzsimons self-release
Bill Graham (Acoustic Piano); Brandon Boon (Upright Bass); Dana Fitzsimons (Drums)
Recorded at Studio 1093, Athens, Georgia, USA - January 3-4, 2022
Dana Fitzsimons tells us that the trio had met a few times before the COVID pandemic lockdown and that the rapidly developing situation precluded any possibility of live performances or collective development. They were then isolated from each other for two years before getting into a studio together, when they found that their original stimulus was not diminished but was sharper and more insistent. Fault Lines is the result of their recording and there is a clear collusion between Free-improv and composition that allows the trio to reconnoitre new pathways.
Fitzsimons is a graduate of the Ithaca College School of Music, NY, where he first studied trumpet. He also took a law degree at William & Mary Law School Williamsburg, Virginia, switching to drums. Boone and Graham are also drummers, so the rhythmic quality of their new music should not surprise. Brandon Boone graduated from Kennesaw State University, Georgia while Bill Graham started on drums, his professional work now extending into teaching methods and approaches to jazz performance. He has an instructional programme on YouTube.
The album is a mix of six original pieces, accompanied by five ballads ‘from yesterdays’ and the two groups are more than suitable foils for each other. Crystals, for example, is an impulsive, unprompted improvisation from the whole troupe. It’s a bit like a kaleidoscopic image, holding itself together even though there is no composed musical framework to lend it support. Compare this to Joni Mitchell’s Amelia at the end and feel that counterbalance. Free-jazz or Avant-garde it may not be, absolutely, but free-style it certainly is and this trio certainly shows that it understands collaboration. It is also clear that the music the trio were aiming for would require them to listen, closely, to each other. This has been said before.
These expressive, eccentric and sophisticated works are engaging throughout. Fault Lines is jam-packed with optimistic dynamism and Fitzsimons’ inclination towards free-style is clearly seen. Nevertheless, wishing to maintain both lyric and rhythm in order to keep the music inviting “even to those not accustomed to listening to Free-jazz", the music on FAULT LINES is audacious, creative, and lyrical.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
