Nubdug Ensemble presents Third!
Over two years in the making, CatSynth Records is proud to release this ambitious project; indeed, ambition is the subtext of this album, a musical adaption of Shakespeare's Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Featuring a cast of seventeen of the most incredible musicians nimbly navigating a set of sophisticated scores, a convoluted confluence of prog rock, jazz, and funk, this is the Shakespearean adaption you've always wanted to hear.
The CD, stylishly packaged in a 6-panel digipack, includes a 16 page booklet of lyrics and intricate illustrations to further expedite the experience.
An excellent review by Steve Lazenby, wherein he matches each composition with the counterpart scene and character in the play, can be seen here -
lazland.org/album-reviews-2024-part-the-second/nubdug-ensemble-third
"But rather than being an amalgam of disparate sounds that draw in every which direction, this is an album that manages to make use of such a wide variety of elements and combine them into landscapes that are wholesome, compelling and inviting, without ever shying away from being challenging at the same time. Mesmerizing beauty and haunting textures of dark allure are both present and presences throughout, with a little bit of a playful and borderline jubilant edge at times too. These are landscapes that drag you in, each song generally using a different manner in which to accomplish this but without ever losing track of what one might describe as the album identity. Even if there are cases of songs that initially may come across as being a stranger pulled in from the left, they will always develop towards sounds, moods or atmospheres that make then a natural and even logical part of the totality."
- Olav Björnsen, Progressor.net
"Third is a wonderful piece of nostalgia as well as being forward looking; the conciseness of the individual pieces works well within the whole framework in a highly enjoyable well played and produced, and great sounding recording"
-Benedict Jackson, Dimensions-in-sound-and-space.com
"Jason Berry... in durchaus Spock'schem Maßstab – der faszinierende Vertreter einer kalifornischen Sophistication, für die Namen wie Van Dyke Parks, Zappa oder Motor Totemist Guild stehen und Etiketten wie Orchestral Art Pop, den er hier in seiner mit Avant Prog und Jazz Rock vertrauten Spielart inszeniert hat. Mit 'Ides of March' von John Cale und Terry Riley (auf „Church of Anthrax“, 1971) und mit Jim Peteriks unverwüstlichem Hollywood-Funk mit The Ides Of March spann er übrigens schon seit 2017 Fäden um Cäsar, Musik und die Brandung der Zeit."
- Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy Magazine #127
"Well, I had to spotlight this outstanding new album by Jason Berry’s Nubdug Ensemble. The whole time I was listening to it, I was picturing it being performed as a musical on Broadway! The compositions and especially the arrangements are just this side of amazing! Don’t hesitate, go get this thing! Highly recommended!"
-Dave Newhouse (The Muffins, Fred Frith, Skeleton Crew, et al)
"Así fue la experiencia total de “Third”, también la experiencia de descubrir al NUBDUG ENSEMBLE. Este tercer acto de la exquisita propuesta avant-progresiva estadounidense que nos brindan el maestro Jason Berry y sus numerosos camaradas de viaje revela una cima artística dentro de la producción progresiva del presente año 2024 que ya se nos está yendo. Los recovecos de una tragedia política de ayer y hoy han sido remodelados dentro de un discurso musical majestuosamente versátil y rotundamente brillante que dice mucho en un espacio de poco más de 37 minutos. ¡¡Un disco totalmente recomendable!!"
- César Inca Mendoza Loyola, autopoietican.blogspot.com
"Third encompasses so many different styles of music — jazz, chamber, pop, prog rock, psychedelic, funk, Broadway, and just about everything else one might think of, yet all these styles work together brilliantly to produce a single conceptual whole, rather than a divergent collection of unrelated ideas; one can easily tell that Nubdug main man Jason Berry had this whole concept worked out well ahead of actually writing any of the music, and as a result everything falls into place perfectly... There are so many standout tracks that I won’t even try and list them, instead I recommend listening to the entirety of Third at the link below, then (if you are so inclined) grab the CD with its six-panel cover, booklet, and artwork."
- Peter Thelen, expose.org
"Los temas se suceden sin mucho preámbulo ya que son canciones bastante cortas, ninguna de las cuales supera los cinco minutos, y predominan en su mayoría sonidos de jazz, con desarrollos vanguardista y melodías inusuales que aportan un sonido algo extraño. La música circula entre relajada y animada, graciosa y alegre, y puede estar como música de fondo para una reunión de gente copada, como las reuniones cabezonas, ponele."
-Moebius8, cabezademoog.blogspot.com
"I do love the vocal tracks on Third. They remind me of the criminally underrated Kew. Rhone. project by Henry Cow’s John Greaves, Slapp Happy’s Peter Blegvad and Lisa Herman, later of Longhouse. The dramatic vocals recall also Dagmar Krause. The instrumental pieces, I am happy to say, also work incredibly fine, showing a more humorous side of Nubdug Ensemble, with a certain undeniable Frank Zappa flair and sometimes even a madcap funfair approach that could come straight out of Sesame Street, as the uplifting Midmarch proves by always putting a smile on my face.
You can’t really complain this time that the album is too short, as Third is nearly as long as the previous two albums taken together. This is so far Jason Berry at his best. By adding more focus and patience to his material, he managed, at least thirty years into his musical career, to come up with a perfect album that should appeal to a fanbase of progressive rock, jazz and avantgarde listeners."
-Pascal Thiel, Radio ARA (Luxembourg) disagreement.net
"In den recht kurzen Stücken - keines durchbricht die Marke von fünf Minuten - dominieren, wie schon erwähnt, meist jazzige Klänge, für die die Bläser ebenso sorgen wie das perlende E-Piano und das Vibraphon. Dazu kommt kantig sägende Gitarre. Die beiden Sängerinnen, die auch mal im Duett agieren, bringen mit ungewöhnlichen, häufig etwas verquer anmutenden Gesangsmelodien eine deutliche avant-proggige Schlagseite in die Musik; da fühlt man sich schon bisweilen an Bands wie Thinking Plague erinnert. Insgesamt bleibt die Musik aber doch im zugänglichen Bereich, klingt locker und unverkrampft, manchmal geradezu beschwingt, jedoch nie banal; dafür ist sie von zu vielen Seltsamkeiten und Widerhaken durchsetzt."
-Jochen Rindfrey, babyblaue-seiten.de
"The Ensemble are really seriously good at what they do, give it a go, there’s a sense of playfulness at time, it is rather bright, some of it feels like it has a touch of the West End musical to it and there is some delightful detail."
- Sean Worrall, organthing.com
"What is familiar to me is the astuteness and clarity of Berry's musical compositions. Any music listener that is interested in enthused harmony, active rhythmic structuring, and melodic invention beyond what is usually deemed acceptable for these compositional elements will find many reasons to dig Third. As with all of the previous Nubdug Ensemble albums, Jason assembled a group of first call players/composers/improvisors for the realization of this current one, and it's no surprise that they do not disappoint; while every one of them deserves mention, and I admonish you to check the list of stellar musicians involved, I will single out guitarist Myles Boisen for his great six string performance and Amanda Chaudhary, who engineered Third really well. That said, there's no one who is not completely kicking ass as they contribute to this release. Third is a damn fun recording that shows Jason Berry to be reaching ever new heights of compositional and performative plateau within his singular musical vision, and Disaster Amnesiac enjoys it from front to back. What a great album Third is!"
- Mark Pino, disasteramnesiac.blogspot.com
released November 5, 2024
Steve Adams - sopranino (8), soprano (7, 8), alto (8), tenor (7, 8, 11), and baritone (7, 10, 11) saxophones
Jason Bellenkes - clarinet (4, 6, 9), alto saxophone (11)
Jason Berry - programming, keyboards, electronics, and additional instruments and sounds
Myles Boisen - e-bow piano (1), electric guitar (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), electric sitar guitar (4, 9, 11), percussion (3)
Sheldon Brown - bass clarinet (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9), alto flute (5)
Dan Cantrell - harpsichord (6, 9)
Amanda Chaudhary - keyboards, synthesizers, and electronics
Mark Clifford - glockenspiel (1), crotales (1), vibraphone (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)
John Ettinger - violin (2, 4, 6, 11)
Chris Grady - trumpet (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11), flugelhorn (5)
John Hanes - drums and percussion (3, 4, 10, 11)
Scott Larson - trombone (2, 7, 11)
Crystal Pascucci - cello (1, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11)
Jill Rogers - voice (6, 8)
Sami Stevens - voice (2, 4, 6, 8, 10)
Brett Warren - electric bass (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10), electric upright bass (11)
G Calvin Weston - drums and percussion (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
