Shine Ball (shīn bôl) An illegal pitch in which a foreign substance is applied to the ball by the pitcher before he throws it. shine ball 3:02 bourbon 6:22 one note slamba 2:32 e.t. phones home 5:25 millipede 4:53 data has feelings 1:47 shoe-in 4:38 playboy pinball machine 2:20 maelstrom 4:12 fnkzg 3:56 creep show 6:34 made in china 3:26 watchman, tell us of the night 4:33 el cocodrilo 4:31 total time 58:18

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What the critics are saying about "Shine Ball"...

Allaboutjazz.com
John Kelman

2005 seems to be pianist Bill Carrothers' year. He’s already released I Love Paris (Pirouet), a mainstream look at songs from the 1920’s through the 1940s, and Civil War Diaries: Solo Piano (Illusions Music), where he took even greater liberties with American Civil War songs previously covered on The Blues and the Greys (Bridgeboymusic, 1997). The key to their success was Carrothers’ liberal approach to the tunes—many of which may not be known by name, but feel familiar on an instinctive level.

Still, Carrothers’ open-mindedness is nothing new to those familiar with earlier records like the dark trio record Ghost Ships (Sketch, 2003) and the sweepingly ambitious Armistice 1918 (Sketch, 2004)—one of last year’s best albums. Shine Ball—an album almost entirely comprised of free improvisations—is a logical next step for Carrothers, a trio recording that affirms him as one of America’s most sadly under appreciated talents.

Bassist Gordon Johnson’s is equally undervalued, but in a career stretching back thirty years he’s played with a breadth of artists from Maynard Ferguson and Chuck Mangione to Greg Brown. Dave King is best known as the drummer for The Bad Plus, but on albums by Craig Taborn and the freebop group Happy Apple he’s shown capabilities that extend well beyond TBP’s rather singular focus.

Free improvisation can often seem amorphous, but Carrothers, Johnson, and King prove it doesn’t have to be. While their approach is different, the trio shares a similar ambition to pulling shape out of the ether that pianist Paul Bley did on his outstanding Not Two, Not One (ECM, 1999). Carrothers is less idiosyncratic, although in his use of prepared techniques he shares a similar belief that the instrument can be expanded well beyond its traditional confines. Similarly, King finds ways to take his drum kit beyond the norm, leaving Johnson as the only player whose instrument remains unaltered.

That’s not to say that Shine Ball doesn’t feel like a piano trio, but Carrothers’ and King’s explorations of expanded texture lend it a unique complexion. Still, the broadest palette in the world would mean nothing if it weren’t for the trio’s unerring chemistry. Whether mining the bleakest of territories on “Bourbon,” where Carrothers proves there’s beauty in darkness, or the aptly-titled “One Note Slamba,” with Johnson and King pushing a fast swing over Carrothers’ repeated triplet, there’s an underlying sense of focus that makes this free music with a distinct purpose. “Data Has Feelings” is more jaggedly chaotic, but it’s clear everyone is heading in one direction, equally so on “Millipede,” sounding like a skewed version of Peanuts music, and “Maelstrom,” which begins spaciously but ultimately moves to a place more appropriate to its name.

Free music involves risk by definition, but Carrothers demonstrates that a firm meeting of the minds can truly build something out of nothing. Shine Ball is spontaneous composition of the highest order—an album that, had it been released earlier, would no doubt have appeared on many of the year’s top ten lists. 

TomaJazz
José Francisco Tapiz 

Tras el fantástico Armistice 1918 en 2004 en el lamentablemente fuera de circulación sello Sketch (¿no va a haber nadie que se anime a ayudar -y esta vez de verdad, no sólo en forma de rumor- a Philippe Ghielmetti en su labor de artesanía sonora y gráfica al frente de este pequeño sello?), Fresh Sound New Talent edita su nueva grabación Shine Ball. Para esta obra el músico ha optado por cambios tanto en la orientación estética como en la formación. Si en Armistice la música prestaba su esencia a revivir la emoción de unos momentos muy intensos (la Primera Guerra Mundial) tanto en lo positivo como en lo negativo, en Shine Ball opta por dos cambios. En primer lugar la formación se reduce desde los once integrantes hasta el trio jazzístico por excelencia. En segundo lugar un repertorio preconfigurado de antemano y con abundancia de temas populares deja paso a unas improvisaciones espontáneas grabadas en directo en estudio a lo largo de dos sesiones separadas exactamente por un año. Este hecho y el que Bill Carrothers trabaje con el tan habitual (en la libre improvisación) piano preparado, quizás podría hacer pensar erróneamente que el pianista hubiera optado por un trabajo siguiendo esta línea estética. Nada más lejos de la realidad, como por otra parte bien podría hacer pensar la presencia de Dave King, batería del grupo de jazz-pop-rock (en su sentido aglutinador) The Bad Plus.
En Shine Ball el trio de músicos trabaja a partir de sus influencias habituales, logrando un resultado más que interesante. Carrothers demuestra que es un maestro del piano. A lo largo de sus improvisaciones lo mismo opta por trabajar a partir de su precioso lirismo, que por procurar una gran intensidad (y también oscuridad) sonora al trio con la utilización del sonido transformado del piano por medio de técnicas no habituales en el jazz mainstream como es la utilización (que no abuso) de diversos elementos contra las cuerdas del piano. El batería Dave King está aquí bastante más comedido que en The Bad Plus. Su inclinación rockera también está presente, pero de un modo bastante menos preponderante (¿quizás gracias al papel de Gordon Johnson, el contrabajista, como productor de la obra?) que en el archifamoso grupo. Gordon Johnson está perfecto en su labor, disfrutando de espacios para el lucimiento propio (actuando en algunos momentos como eje central en torno al que se construyen las piezas) y realizando su labor como aglutinador del trabajo del trio. El resultado es un disco que a pesar de surgir a partir de unas composiciones espontáneas, presenta unas cuantas piezas que no se pueden calificar sino de bellos hallazgos melódicos. En definitiva, otra obra más para un gran pianista que bien merece la pena ser tenido en cuenta.

The Village Voice
Bill Carrothers - Shine Ball
Rating: A -
The analogy to the banned baseball pitch is that Carrothers also applied foreign substance to his piano. The idea is
to surprise the batter, or listener, with an unpredictable break, but in both cases the real trick is control. As with
many spitballers, the prepared piano may itself be a feint—mostly it comes through clear and sharp, while the
improvs sneak past.

Downbeat Magazine
January 2007
by Peter Margasak
2 1/2 stars

Pianist Bill Carrothers boldly tackles pure improvisation on Shine Ball. He throws a further wrench into the works by exclusively using prepared piano. The liner notes don't explain how Carrothers treated his instrument - although a photo inside the booklet has a cymbal sitting on the strings, and the pianist is holding a drumstick - and sometimes the piano sounds just like a piano. Although his trio - with bassist Gordon Johnson and drummer Dave King - ditched tunes on this outing, this is hardly non-idiomatic music. The majority of the pieces eventually find their way into swing rhythms, and these passages are often the most satisfying.

What's problematic about this collection is that most of the numbers begin with a tentative murmur, build to a rhythmic crescendo and then dissolve. Structurally, it's not interesting, and it gives the whole enterprise a too casual feel. Only King, who's also credited with something called a "waterphone", seems to have a steady grasp on deep textural exploration, while Carrothers and Johnson stick fairly close to the post-bop safety net.

When the trio hits its stride, Carrothers sounds like he's trying to play through the piano treatments, rather than working with them. Luckily, the three participants manage to transcend these weaknesses with moments of brilliance, but this concept needs more work.

All About Jazz - Italy
Paolo Peviani

Il CD targato Fresh Sound New Talent che non ti aspetti. L'etichetta spagnola ci aveva abituato a produzioni aperte ai linguaggi contemporanei, ma tutto sommato solidamente inserite nella tradizione. Shine Ball è invece un album interamente costituito da improvvisazioni estemporanee. Nulla di scritto, la musica che si sviluppa interamente nel momento. 

E quindi, ampio spazio ad introduzioni tumultuose, nelle quali il trio cerca una via maestra, una possibile direzione di sviluppo. Che a volte può essere un ostinato pedale od un frenetico free (ma queste sono le soluzioni più scontate), altre volte (e sono i momenti più felici), una dolce melodia, un accenno inatteso. 

Alla struttura ed alla riflessione si preferisce il dialogo, la spontaneità. Con le inevitabili scivolate (e talvolta autentiche cadute) che tutto questo comporta. Ma, come giustamente riportato nel libretto del CD, “ogni progresso implica un rischio. Non puoi prendere la seconda base e tenere un piede sulla prima”. Una massima che si riferisce ovviamente al baseball (come del resto il titolo dell'album), ma che si applica magnificamente anche alla musica e, più in generale, alla vita. 

Culture Jazz - mai 2006
Thierry Giard

Attention, mesdames et messieurs, ce disque est entièrement réalisé sans artifices, sans aucun arrangement préconçu, sans discussions préalables (cf. texte de pochette). De l'improvisation spontanée garantie sans OGM (Orchestrations Gestuelles ou Manuscrites ?) ! 
Oui, de la musique improvisée, à l'exception d'un titre, mais pas pour autant un disque "free". 

Si le disque paraît sous le nom de Bill Carrothers, cette musique est réellement une oeuvre collective qui se construit entre les initiatives et les idées impulsées par le pianiste mais aussi par Dave King (One Note Slamba...). L'un ébauche des schémas harmoniques et des climats, l'autre se joue des rythmes et des sons percussifs pour échafauder un édifice collectif, parfois avec une base binaire affirmée (Millipede ou le très funky Fnkzg ). Lien entre ces deux éléments, la contrebasse de Gordon Johnson s'affirme comme le point d'équilibre de l'ensemble. La construction instantanée de "thèmes" comme Bourbon, Maelstrom ou le swinguant Creep Show témoigne d'un haut degré de complicité et d'écoute collective même si un tel disque comporte aussi quelques moments creux ou plus "flottants" (El crocodilo en final, par exemple) . 

Loin de l'austérité des recherches improvisées de certains pianistes, Shine Ball est le témoignage de deux rencontres en studio à exactement un an d'intervalle, les 27 décembre 2003 et 2004. Particularité ici, l'utilisation d'un piano dit "préparé" qui ne devra pas pour autant repousser ceux que les recherches d'un John Cage peuvent encore rebuter ! Le piano conserve globalement sa sonorité originelle et la préparation discrète et mesurée vient enrichir les couleurs du trio .

Ce disque s'écoute avec intérêt et curiosité et confirme la richesse et la diversité du parcours de Bill Carrothers. Cet enregistrement, le premier que le pianiste publie chez Fresh Sound, est donc antérieur à des disques sans doute plus essentiels comme le magnifique Armistice 1918 paru chez Sketch en 2005 ou No Choice, duo de pianos avec Marc Copland (parution fin mai 2006 chez Minium). En 2004, Dave King était encore assez libre de ses mouvements, moins contraint qu'il ne semble l'être aujourd'hui par ses engagements avec le trio The Bad Plus.

Les fans de Bill Carrothers ne devront donc pas passer à côté de ce disque dont la belle pochette sepia fait allusion à la passion du pianiste pour l'histoire américaine, cette fois en se référant à des légendes du baseball du début du 20ème siècle, les "Shineballers" Eddie Cicotte et Ed Walsh. 

Un homme qui cultive ses racines et va de l'avant, voilà donc une raison supplémentaire pour le suivre de très près.