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Made To Break: F4 Fake

By Mark Corroto
November 8, 2019
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If you count their three download-only releases from 2016, F4 Fake by

Ken Vandermark

saxophone
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Ken Vandermark's Made To Break is the band's ninth release since forming in 2011. This is significant because like his quintet Vandermark 5, which existed from 1996 until 2010, this quartet and his ensemble Marker are the main drivers for the trailblazing composer. Not to say his solo work and duos with musicians such as

Paal Nilssen-Love

drums
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Paal Nilssen-Love,

Nate Wooley

trumpet
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Nate Wooley, and

Tim Daisy

drums
b.1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Tim Daisy aren't also growth rings in his musical tree.

Made To Break has a freshness not unlike that of 1970s electric

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis music. Like Davis, Vandermark colors outside of the jazz lines including funk, electronics, Ethiopian esthetic, and contemporary classical music. And like Miles, he is an artist of his time, drawing inspiration from painters, writers, movie directors, and the DIY rock to which he listens. The lineup has remained stable for most of the band's existence with Vandermark (reeds), fellow Chicagoan drummer

Tim Daisy

drums
b.1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Tim Daisy, Dutch electric bassist

Jasper Stadhouders

guitar, electric

" data-original-title="" title="">Jasper Stadhouders, and the Austrian electronics wizard

Christof Kurzmann

multi-instrumentalist

" data-original-title="" title="">Christof Kurzmann.

The stratagem Vandermark employs with Made To Break is the deployment of modular compositions that can be summoned by any player at any time. It is as if this were a

Lawrence "Butch" Morris

cornet
1947 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Lawrence "Butch" Morris conduction where the baton was shared. Each player has a catalog of the band's music and can call upon passages for the group or in duo with another musician. "A?ton (For Orson Wells)" motors along with an infectious groove and Vandermark's tenor saxophone siren before Kurzmann muddies the waters with sampled horn metamorphosed by way of his software manipulations. From there, Kurzmann pushes the sounds into hyper space, Vandermark swaps to clarinet, Daisy abandons drums for objects and Stadhouders jettisons his timekeeping for some shred. But wait, there's more. After Daisy reclaims his drum kit and solos, the quartet circles back to a heavy pulse and tenor-led groove, only to end with some electronic ambiance. The remaining two tracks follow suit and open up the potential for surprise. Just as Miles Davis rejected head-solo-head approach to written tunes, Vandermark opens up the possibilities of each piece of music Made To Break presents. F4 Fake finds the band in full flight.

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Track Listing

A?ton (For Orson Wells); Meccano Number 7 (for Julio Cortazar); Agora (For Zelia Barbosa).

Personnel

Ken Vandermark

saxophone

Ken Vandermark: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Tim Daisy: drums; Jasper Stadhouders: electric bass; Christof Kurzmann: electronics, Ppooll audio software.

Album information

Title: F4 Fake | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Trost Records

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