Glitter Wolf (Royal Potato Family)
Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom
Released February 1, 2019
Allmusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2019
Jazz Journalists Association Award for Mid-Size Ensemble 2020
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/browse/MPREb_ChneOloBG2O
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5H6mBKHcBmL9Wy5SVGh0hv?si=885qsehQR0G1n8xgEdrEBw
About:
Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom’s new studio album ‘Glitter Wolf’ is defined by the drummer’s vision as a bandleader. With an unflinching devotion to progressive movement, the recording’s cinematic arrangements are reflective of organized chaos and an urgency to always move the music forward, while interspersing moments of introspection and sheer beauty. Produced by Julie Wolf (Ani DiFranco, Carly Simon), Boom Tic Boom hit the studio for the ‘Glitter Wolf’ sessions at the famed Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA following a two-year stint of extensive international touring. Tracks like “Congratulations and Condolences,” “Daughter and Sun” and “Valley of the Giants” are riveting and not easily categorized by genre as they commandeer spontaneous grooves and melodically rich compositions with a raw, but refined energy.
On a spiritual level, ‘Glitter Wolf’ was inspired by the collective need for community and self-acceptance in an incredibly unpredictable time. The music shimmers with the spirit of empowering actions such as the #MeToo Movement and Black Lives Matter, while the dichotomy between suspect governmental policies inspiring rightful protests; embracing the varying degrees of the feminine and masculine from within or living a fulfilled yet challenging life are reflected back in musical juxtapositions of space versus density. Miller’s trenchant writing and Boom Tic Boom’s soaring performances results in record that speaks directly to the zeitgeist of the moment.
Track Listing:
1. Congratulations and Condolences (Allison Miller) 06:08
2. The Ride (Allison Miller) 07:54
3. Malaga (Allison Miller) 07:24
4. Zev – The Phoenix (Allison Miller) 05:29
5. Daughter and Sun (Allison Miller) 05:48
6. White Wolf (Allison Miller) 07:09
7. Welcome Hotel (Allison Miller) 06:40
8. Vine and Vein (Allison Miller) 02:40
9. Glitter Wolf (Allison Miller) 06:10
10. Valley of the Giants (Allison Miller) 03:49
Personnel:
Allison Miller: drums, vibes and celeste
Jenny Scheinman: violin
Kirk Knuffke: cornet
Ben Goldberg: clarinet, contra alto clarinet
Todd Sickafoose: bass
Myra Melford: piano
Special Guests
John Santos: percussion (10)
David Flores: percussion (9)
John Hatfield: percussion (3)
Recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA; Redstar Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Produced by Allison Miller and Julie Wolf
Recorded and Mixed by Adam Munóz
Additional Recording by Ethan Allen
Mastered by Ken Lee
Cover Art: Grady McFerrin
Artwork: Gregory J. Del Deo
Review:
Following two years of extensive touring, drummer Allison Miller brings a sense of road-tested swagger and global inspiration to her fourth Boom Tic Boom album, 2019’s vibrant Glitter Wolf. Recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California with producer and longtime friend Julie Wolf, Glitter Wolf finds Miller further coalescing many of the cross-pollinated rhythms and harmonic ideas that have informed her and the band’s music since their eponymous 2010 debut. Once again joining the drummer are bandmates bassist Todd Sickafoose, pianist Myra Melford, violinist Jenny Scheinman, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, and cornetist Kirk Knuffke. Together, they play an investigative style of modern creative jazz that touches upon a bevy of stylistic influences and allows for plenty of improvisation and group interplay. Adding to this interplay is producer Wolf, who is connected to Miller via their work with singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco, and who brings an ear for balancing a studio-perfect performance with a live, rootsy electricity. Much of this balance is due to Miller’s deft rhythmic and compositional skills. From the start, there is a feeling that Glitter Wolf is the kind of album John Coltrane or Charles Mingus might have recorded after a long trip to Cuba, Europe, or Israel. The boundary-crossing identity of “Congratulations and Condolences,” with its rolling desert caravan groove, open piano chords, and klezmer-sounding melody perfectly sets the tone for what’s to come. Miller next launches into a swaggering, Tony Williams-like drum volley on “The Ride,” kicking off a song that’s equal parts New Orleans second-line parade and traffic jam. Equally hybridized tracks follow including “Malaga” with its kinetic Cuban montuno-crossed-with-R&B-groove and lyrical accordion overlay, and “Welcome Hotel,” which combines gypsy jazz jauntiness with a contemporary edge. Similarly, “White Wolf” crosses sparkling, Maiden Voyage-era Herbie Hancock modalism with Sephardic improvisatory spirals from Goldberg and Scheinman. We also get the folky, Eastern European lyricism of “Vine and Vein” in which Knuffke, Goldberg, and Scheinman dance around each other as if in a shared reverie. The result is an album that feels like a well-planned road trip to a country you’ve never visited before: deeply thought-out and composed, but never predictable.
Matt Collar (AllMusic)
