Vancouver '08

"Over 40-plus years as an innovative performer and renowned educator, drummer Jerry Granelli has shown an affinity for the sonic possibilities of paired electric guitars. Since 2003, he's explored this interest in V16....Vancouver '08, their third release, vividly captures their unique sound world—referencing jazz, blues and psychedelic rock, but not beholden to these traditions. The group has forged a collective identity with all members contributing compositions and arrangements specifically for it. The approach is also egalitarian: any instrument can, and likely will, take the melodic lead or solo, before transitioning to creative support—blurring the distinction....The strings move together for the formal introduction of Kogel's "Wellfare." When drums enter, the piece swells with poignancy before receding to Kogel's gentle guitar conclusion, which segues to his balladic duet with bass on "Udon Waltz." The songs are unhurried and the musicians use the slow-to-mid tempos to probe the compositions fully. Tronzo's "Unnamed" has a smoldering intensity, his ominous repeating phrase playing a rhythmic role, before his twisted slide runs open the piece for freer collective improv. Conversely, "Steel Eyed Blues" opens with swirling strings until a bass line emerges, forming a groove with drums that elicits a quasi-reggae vamp from Tronzo and Kogel's echoed and delayed retorts....V16 is a reflection of Granelli, expressing a summation of his life in music."

"Guitarists Christian Kogel and especially David Tronzo are wizards of the six string....Slide guitarist Tronzo applies not only the traditional steel and glass to his axe, but also "found" slides like a plastic pill bottle and small aluminum vegetable can. He dampens his strings by lodging a cork between the fifth and sixth and the first and second strings, while wedging in a chopstick to use as a whammy bar....J. Anthony Granelli's bass, far from simply plucking away in the background, hums with an electric sweep or steps up to carry the melody itself.
The jarring "Unnamed" is one of the few tunes in which Granelli's drums take a central role. And the diversity of his playing on the track—both rhythmically and in terms of percussive color—shows why he is considered to be one of the foremost drummers on the scene today. Still, this is a guitar-lover's record, with drummer Granelli slyly pulling the warped and buzzing strings."

"With two electric guitars, electric bass and drums, Jerry Granelli's V16 project might resemble a rock band more than your standard jazz band, but don't be fooled: this is a jazz band all the way. Actually, the way they operate, it's almost more of a jazz organism. Much like Henry Threadgill's Zooid or Very Very Circus (and Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler before that), this project is dedicated to group improvisation. Which is not to say it's free jazz: it's not. There are strong melodies to almost every tune, but it's never a situation where they play a head and trade solos. The melodies are a launching point for a group sound that ebbs and flows, touching back on the melodies at times but never slavishly bound to them. Christian Kögel and David Tronzo's rapport is incredible. There are times where it seems one guitar player will complete the other's thought. There are times where suddenly a unison-played melody appears almost out of nowhere only to resolve into two or three separate tangents. The way the players crawl inside the tunes and work as one is really amazing. It can be difficult to tell who is doing what (besides the drums, of course). Kögel and Tronzo play with both restraint and abandon....It's a truly egoless group dynamic; they play in service to the tunes not to show off....Group improvisation doesn't come any better and this sound is unique."