Search - John Blum :: Who begat Eye

With WHO BEGAT EYE, New York free-jazz mainstay John Blum unleashes his singular gifts in a solo piano recording that reaffirms his position as a uniquely inventive and consistently dazzling player. That Blum should title the recording after lines by the poet Ted Hughes is an apt compliment, as both men's artistry focuses on the illumination of deeply complex ideas by way of direct (and frequently pointed) expression. And Blum, like Hughes, consistently delivers work of a jagged, elemental beauty...

The playing here is a wire walk, at once raw and intensely disciplined, with Blum setting exquisitely detailed explorations against thundering flourishes and inspiring fresh admiration for his dexterity and imagination in the process. The performances are arresting, with Blum confidently and consistently creating dense, rich, and furiously organic improvisations. Not to be missed.
- Wyatt Doyle, New Texture...................................................

"When you hear this profound solo effort, you will feel in every piece, every pounding note-beat, a hard flowing passion and brazen self-assuredness. This is Blum entering dimensional holes in time, distorting this time as much as he can while still adhering to it and bending with it as one would bend with a storm if moving against or into it." - from the liner notes by Steve Dalachinsky