Latest Releases on ESC Records

Free Speech

Mansour's second release on ESC further twists and elongates many of the themes and dynamics introduced on last year's Public Domain. Like its predecessor, Free Speech captures the group on tour in Europe and takes the trio's characteristically open-ended interactions to some marvellous new levels. Built on a hypnotically rocky beat the title track's bluesy riff and molten, dreamy chords veer into a chasm of squawks and undersea whines before reaching a scorching apex while "Modulator"'s driving wah-wah groove brings silky, sweeping lines from Takeishi over the powerfully restless, yet inventive Poor. The album's magnum opus, "Nebula", reconfigures Mansour's "A Minor Introduction", creating deft, intricate soundscapes, amid dazzling group interplay in which lush, liquid melodic sequences ebb and flow at will. "Rule and Divide" is an achingly understated reinterpretation of the tender ballad while the closing "Out on a Limb" is a scorching funk vamp.
**** (4 stars out of 4)

James McGowan, September 2007 Jazzwise Magazine UK

Links to recent reviews in:


Listen to album



Public Domain

Mansour's Public Domain -- is bristling with an adventurous spirit of risk-taking and discovery. If jazz is the sound of surprise, then this is jazz with a capital 'J'.

Joined by fellow daredevils and audacious improvisers Stomu Takeishi on 5-string electric bass and Ted Poor on drums -- two ubiquitous figures on New York's creative downtown music scene -- Mansour explores some rather open-ended, outre territory in these live performances.

Mansour and his highly interactive trio create music that is at once compelling and provocative, edgy and at times hauntingly beautiful. Stay tuned for an upcoming tour by Mansour's latest cutting edge trio. These three adventurous kindred spirits are bound to push the envelope even further the next time they hit the bandstand. -- Bill Milkowski (excerts from liner notes)

Bill Milkowski is a regular contributor to Jazz Times and Jazziz magazines in the States. He was named Writer of the Year for 2004 by the Jazz Journalists Association and is also the author of "JACO: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius" (Backbeat Books)

Links to recent reviews in: