Schott, John - John Schott's Typical Orchestra
SKU
JSTO01
Very great, self-released album, packaged in a nice digi-pack, by guitarist/composer John Schott, who is best known for doing some work with John Zorn, T.J. Kirk, John Zorn, Rova Sax Quartet, Junk Genius, Paul Dresher, and Mike Patton, as well as a very good album on Tzadik. Here he leads a between 4-9 musicians through a series of compositions that leave plenty of room for improvisation, while retaining their compositional integrity. Players appearing here include Ches Smith (drums) (Mr. Bungle), Ben Goldberg (New Klezmer Trio), Carla Kihlstedt (violin) (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum), Devin Hoff (acoustic bass), Jon Raskin (sax) (ROVA) and many others. John has a definitely 'rootsy' edge to his guitar playing and this album contains more blues and Americana that might typically be found in a record here, but he blends this with new music forms and improvisation in a wholely unique and enjoyable way, much like Curlew does (without sounding like Curlew). "I enjoyed the record a lot...and you worked with some of my favorite players. I enjoyed the eclecticism and general Eastern European intellectual sensibilities. And of course, your playing was as ingenious and musical as always."-Joe Gore (guitarist with Tracy Chapman, P.J. Harvey, Tom Waits).