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What
They Have Written....
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| Photo
by Andy Hurlbut |
" Schuller is a
drummer who starts at the boundaries and then extends them.
He can take the music through difficult and surprising changes
with astonishing economy."
--- AllAboutJazz (2/03)
"Schuller's ambitious
'Evanescent,' dedicated to Gil Evans, is definitely a case where
conceptual reach does not exceed grasp. Music in homage to late
great musicians rarely lives up to the honorees, but this is
an exception that makes an original statement while embodying
the grandeur, mystery and hip irreverance of Evans (and Miles
Davis) and has an elegiac quality which communicates a heartfelt
sense of loss. Simply put, it's cosmic." --Jazz
Radio News (10/94)
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| "Since
it’s his date, George Schuller does get room for more drum
features than if it was, say, a saxophonist’s CD. But like
his sibling, he never tries to draw attention to himself with
overlong, noisy imprudence. More likely you can comment on the
chess-master’s skill with which he position each beat. On
his own and as part of the bigger picture he keeps bass drum and
snare rhythm going, but is just as likely to express himself in
quick flams, rim shots and with a variety of ancillary percussion
including cowbells, maracas and a bell tree." — Jazz
Weekly (1/03) |
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"George Schuller's talent
on Hellbent lies in his ability to keep the quartet together through
periods of order and disorder. He uses drums, rather than cymbals,
much of the time to sharpen edges and provide
contrast. Schuller's playing is particularly refreshing because
he doesn't generally play on (or off) the beat--instead, he comes
in and out unexpectedly, dancing around the pulse. You always
know it's there, but nobody's offering any formal demonstration."
--- AllAboutJazz (1/03) |
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| "Schuller's compositions create
an effective balance between form and freedom; his melodic sense
is firmly rooted in the post-Ornette vocabulary, and his rhythmic
conception is finely connected to the time/space continuum. As
a drummer, Schuller propels, swings hard and has the rare ability
to conjure form out of seeming chaos."---The Tuscon Weekly
(1/00) |
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"Schuller's charts provide fruitful frameworks for
the improvising, with loose-limbed harmonic lines and purposeful
rhythmic foundations underpinning free-wheeling melodic parts
from the horns." --- JazzReview (Great Britain)
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| "This
is not a mere 'drummer's CD,' rather the improbable but gratifying
substantial results of a mature compositional and collective effort."
--Jazzthetik (12/90) |
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