The label began with an ambitious project: to honor and document the legacy of the West Coast bassist Eric von Essen, who died leaving a huge cache of lovely, unrecorded compositions. Three volumes of the von Essen project, 37 other discs and 10 years later, there's more than enough for a two-CD retrospective. But how to describe this aesthetic expanse? In part, by what it isn't: No bebop, no jazz standards (unless you count Carla Bley's "Walking Batterie Woman" or faint echoes of the "Girl on the Flying Trapeeze" in Jenny Scheinman's "Song of the Open Road"), no "free jazz" that doesn't work back to some semblance of form (although the DVD includes some exceptions to those guidelines). More pieces nod to rocking than to swinging, though the swinging, like the rocking, tends to be eccentric. Some pieces, like the aforementioned Scheinman piece, have a sort of eccentric neo-hoedown feel.
The closest thing to a star to come out of the very loose circle of West Coast players heard at the label is Nels Cline — of Wilco in recent years. And he's here in guitar-master glory with his Nels Cline Singers and in the groups of Scott Amendola, Alan Pasqua and label-head Jeff Gauthier. Other leaders include former Detroiters Bennie Maupin and Don Preston, Myra Melford and Erik Friedlander.
Good as the disc is, though, it's in some ways outclassed by the accompanying DVD, which includes a meditative abstract video-plus-performance piece by percussionist-leader Alex Cline (joined by twin brother Nels and others) and a go-for-broke live performance by a Maupin-led group. The highpoint is an hour-long complement to No Monastery, the Nels Cline Sextet's much-lauded Andrew Hill tribute. There's good, informative behind-the-music commentary along with live performances that, to paraphrase Sly Stone, takes the music higher. It's music with space and drama: You're reluctant to leave the room because you need to hear where the music will go, how things will turn out. –W. Kim Heron, Metro Times Detroit (4/02/08)
Now this is how it should be done! In ten short years, Jeff Gauthier's Cryptogramophone has become a major force for releasing state-of-the-art, world-class recordings by creative musicians from America and Europe in startlingly beautiful packages. Its roster of releases includes titles by Myra Melford, Bennie Maupin, Nels Cline, Jeff Gauthier, David Witham, Mark Dresser, Jenny Scheinman, Don Preston, Alex Cline, Scott Amendola, Alan Pasqua, and Erik Friedlander. And while looking at the names above you would rightly get an idea that Cryptogramophone issues some outside titles; they have done recordings that simply defy categorization and are very accessible in terms of their warmth, immediacy, and the sheer excellence their performances. To mark their first decade they've issued a stellar three-disc collection -- two CDs and one DVD -- that sells for the price of a single-CD called Assemblage 1998-2008. The two audio discs are chock-full of performances from their catalog.
The listener is brought into the Crypto M.O. early on. The label was begun with the first of three volumes of compositions by the late bassist Eric Von Essen, a bandmate of Gauthier's and the Cline brothers. In other words, the label was created as a tribute to a friend to be sure, but also to showcase the music of an extremely gifted composer no one knew about outside of a very small circle. "Silvana" is simply gorgeous and a fitting entryway. Other highlights of the first disc include a reading of Carla Bley's "Walking Batteriewoman," by the Don Preston Trio, Alex Cline's "Sonnet 9,"and Gauthier's own "Solflicka." Disc two's highlights include "Escondido" from Maupin's Early Reflections album (which features a cast of all Polish musicians he'd been working with for a couple of years), Scott Amendola's "Buffalo Bird Woman," and Todd Sickafoose's "Future Flora," as well as work by Scheinman, Melford, and the Nels Cline Singers. This stuff is all top-flight. The liner notes by Gauthier offer a subjective but engaging history of the label as well.
The real treat here is the DVD. To begin, there is an hour-long program documenting the recording and performance of Nels Cline's brilliant New Monastery: A View Into the Music of Andrew Hill. This set, released in 2006, was recorded while Hill was still very much alive. The video contains documentary footage in the studio and interviews with Cline, trumpeter Bobby Bradford, and Andrea Parkins. In addition to the studio footage there is performance footage from the band in playing the album in New York and Los Angeles -- both gigs are just kinetic and wildly inspired. Next up is a 20-minute selection from Bennie Maupin in Poland featuring the quartet he recorded Early Reflections with during a live gig at a concert hall in 2007: pianist Michal Tokaj, bassist Michal Baransky, and drummer Lukasz Zyta offer a truly empathic understanding of all the spaces and subtleties in Maupin's music. They are joined for one selection by the wonderful vocalist Hania Chowaniec-Rybka, who also appears on the album.
The last ten minutes of the DVD combine an artfully done video by Carole Kim and live-in-the-studio footage of Alex Cline, Gauthier, and guitarist G.E. Stinson while recording Cline's album, The Other Shore in 2002. The juxtaposition of her poetically arresting images and the studio footage is art in and of itself. The music? Alex Cline's records thus far have all been pure gold aesthetically. They may be overshadowed by the presence of his guitar-slinging brother who is everywhere at once, but his blend of fiery and restrained improvisation, jazz's innovation and discipline, rock dynamics, and Eastern modalities are singular. In sum, this is a dynamite package for the DVD alone, and you get a very generous look at one of the finer independent labels on the scene. Assemblage 1998-2008 cannot be recommended highly enough. –Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
In an era of declining album sales, some tiny labels find a way to survive in music niches. Cryptogramophone Records is a boutique label based in L.A. which specializes in cutting edge improvisation. They just celebrated their 10th anniversary with a week of shows in town last week, but if you missed it, you should check out Cryptogramophone's Assemblage 1998-2008. It’s a compilation of the label’s history in two 2 CDs and one DVD. You might recognize many names there from the rock or jazz worlds, but chances are they will sound very different here.
–Gisele Regatao, WNYC.org
Despite a decade of releasing risky creative music that explores alternative folk, fusion, jazz and experimental music, L.A. label Cryptogramophone remains under the radar of most listeners. Assemblage 1998-2008 delves into a fertile catalogue (40 releases and counting) that showcases primarily West Coast-based musicians who collectively extend the boundaries of musical forms. The two-CD/DVD, 19-track compilation features artists with unique visions and voices, including guitarist Nels Cline, percussionist Alex Cline (Nels’ twin brother), keyboardists Alan Pasqua and Don Preston, Cryptogramophone founder/violinist Jeff Gauthier and more. Grade: A
–Doug Simpson, Campus Circle
