Compositional & improvised jazz explorations by Dan Phillips Quartet.
Dan Phillips QUARTET
"Converging Tributaries"
Released: September 2017 CD + Digital
The release from a Chicago based Quartet featuring the two compositions by guitarist Dan Phillips and group improvisations with Jeb Bishop on Trombone, Timothy Daisy on Drums and Krzysztof Pabian on double bass.
“Converging Tributaries” presents Chicago-based guitarist Dan Phillips in an adventurous quartet setting with Jeb Bishop (trombone), Krzysztof Pabian (double bass), and Timothy Daisy (drums).
Blending structured compositions with extended free improvisations, the album showcases the quartet’s ability to shape sound through evolving textures, dynamic interplay, and deep listening. Pieces like “Conspicuous Con” and the title track balance composed frameworks with open-ended exploration, while “Swirling Headwaters” and “Latent Entropy” highlight the ensemble’s prowess in collective, spontaneous creation.
Rooted in the spirit of Chicago’s organic improvisation scene, “Converging Tributaries” offers a rich, textural listening experience—moving seamlessly between form and freedom.
Personnel
Dan Phillips – guitar
Jeb Bishop – trombone
Krzysztof Pabian – double bass
Timothy Daisy – drums
Awards
Reviews
“Phillips and company play with confidence. None are in a hurry to achieve any notable goal other than to add their own contributions to those of the rest of the group. Thus move seamlessly between order and chaos, with varying tone and dynamics. The improvised pieces are easily mistaken for thoroughly composed music. The sound is coherent, coordinated and is what we might dub Chicago organic.”
“The album enables all four players to display their individual statements, which are impressive, as well as showcase excellent team work, and altogether is a good example of contemporary Jazz, which refuses to stay within the boundaries set by the Jazz tradition and offers cross-genre fertilization. The rhythm section is given an equal status within the quartet and contributes equally, both on the compositional and instrumental levels.”
“Much in that way a storm cloud has no definite borders or concrete shape, yet possesses a presence that implies depth (and more), the quartet of guitarist Dan Phillips, trombonist Jeb Bishop, double bassist Krzysztof Pabian and drummer Timothy Daisy rain down with plenty of free jazz improvisation, but by coalescing into the occasional groove, they provide a sense of focus and direction to music that doesn’t always move that way.”
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