Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
This Sunday night at 7 PM at Heaven Gallery, Ulery is celebrating the release of his new album Themes and Scenes (Woolgathering). He won’t be performing live–the event is simply a listening party. Before I listened to the new album I was puzzled by this choice, since jazz is all about live performance.
The pieces are by and large episodic, and they chart their own narratives. In fact, so much happens in each one that it’s hard to imagine how they’d actually function in a film–perhaps a short film, with lots of scene changes? That isn’t to say that Ulery’s music is impatient or uses rapid cutting, but it does feel more self-contained than most conventional soundtrack work. There’s a strong eastern European flavor in many of the melodies, and despite the fact that no track features more than six players, meticulous overdubbing gives the music a somewhat orchestral feel. The concision of the arrangements, on the other hand, suggests that the succinctness of rock has influenced Ulery’s aesthetic. If I have one complaint, it’s that the tone rarely strays far from moody and contemplative–but maybe Ulery is a moody, contemplative guy.
