Jane Ira Bloom - Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson (2017)

Wild Lines is a magnificent recording, filled with intelligent and open melodies, inspired interactions, and a collective love of exploration. One should not discount how well the Quartet works together, the powerful and graceful contributions of Mark Helias and Bobby Previte, the excellent piano playing of Dawn Clement, and, of course, the wonder-filled work of Jane Ira Bloom. The artist could have chosen to release either one of these discs as her new album, they're both delightful on their own. Together, "Wild Lines" gives the listener an intimate description of the creative process, how the sounds and meanings of words can be translated to the sounds of music, that the creative process can truly be an infinity of riches. This is a joyful experience for the musicians and for the audience. --Richard B. Kamins, Step Tempest

one of the singularly voiced soprano sax aces of our times…Smoking art jazz that goes the distance. --Chris Spector, Midwest Record

Jane Ira Bloom quartet poetry improvised Jane Ira Bloom WILD LINES IMPROVISING EMILY DICKINSON: I must tell you up front that I believe Jane is one of the most important soprano saxophone creators on the jazz scene today... I ve reviewed many of her albums, most recently in issue # 162, where she got very high marks from me (as always). On this new album, expected to hit the stands on September 8th, 2017, she and her quartet have accomplished even bigger marvels... just listen to the spoken-word version of Emily & Her Atoms , when it goes live (that should be within the next week or so; I ll be sure to return and update the links when it s available). Deborah Rush does the spoken-word performance, which expands the horizons of the musical performance inestimably (in event you didn t know it, I once performed a lot of spoken-word myself). I just LOVED Deborah s spoken-word on Dangerous Times , over the thrumming beat, then with Jane s sax weaving in full of punch to help you navigate those oh-so-dangerous avenues we all must tread in these times. From a purely musical standpoint, it is songs like Alone & In A Circumstance , on the first CD of the double set that will make you a believer in the importance of this great album, and of course Ms. Blooms powerful saxophone will make this a tune you revisit frequently (as I do). This release shows you true talent and an energy for jazz performance seldom witnessed on the jazz scene today... in fact, my personal choice for favorite of the twenty-nine pieces offered up on the album is the most solid evidence of that... it s the instrumental cut for Emily & Her Atoms that just blew me away. If you re a big fan of saxophone-led jazz, as well as spoken-word, you MUST get this album... I give it a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with a (perfect) EQ (energy quotient) rating of 5.00... which means that Jane s fantastic collection gets my PICK for best sax/spoken-word album . You can read more information about this fascinating artist at Jane s website. --Dick Metcalf, Contemporary Fusion Reviews