By Mark Corroto

The same weekend as soccer’s World Cup, the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup, a heavyweight title fight, and the Triple Crown of horse racing, Peter Brotzmann’s Chicago Tentet arrived in town for a two-set concert of championship composed/free jazz.

If you are thinking Machine Gun, the Brotzmann energy-jazz super group of the sixties, forgettabout-it. Think more in terms of a disciplined company of improvisers. This ain’t your father’s ‘new thing,’ to borrow a phrase from the Wynton and Stanley crowd, “this is American classical music.” Formed In 1997 as part of a Brotzmann visit to Chicago, the Tentet has reformed occasionally for recordings and brief tours. This short American stint found the band in the Pittsburgh’s Frick Fine Arts Auditorium and in front of a large audience. Percussionists Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake, bassist Kent Kessler and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm supported the brass section of Joe McPhee (pocket cornet and Valve trombone) Jeb Bishop (trombone) and the reeds section of Ken Vandermark, Mars Williams, Mats Gustafsson, and Peter Brotzmann.

Opening with Michael Zerang’s hand drumming, the Ken Vandermark composition “All Things Being Equal” blew into a funk-based horn-driven melody before individual musicians squared off into duets with the mighty drummer Hamid Drake powering the music. The Vandermark piece (which lasted for the entire 45-minute first set) shifted time signatures throughout, always returning to the theme. Like the pieces he writes for the Vandermark 5, solos are brief and sometimes abbreviated to keep energy and interest flowing. Passages stopped and started as musicians reacted to written charts and hand signals. Noisy chatter quickly broke quiet passages with each musician contributing his signature sound. The Swedish Mats Gustafsson, an apparent heir to Brotzmann’s fire-breathing crown, often begins with distinctive clucks and pops before plowing the depths of energy jazz. Somewhere, nearly 30 minutes into the first set, the stoic face of Brotzmann opened into a smile as Jeb Bishop and Ken Vandermark played a marching passage that sounded as if was taken from a mid-1960s Roman army movie soundtrack, all of which quickly segued into 4/4 bebop time.

After a break the band reassembled, most with closed eyes, in silence. Waiting for the crowd to become completely still, Jeb Bishop played a few fluttered passages and stopped. More silence. Mars Williams and Vandermark played even tones as Vandermark began a continuous circular breathing bass clarinet solo over which the Fred Lonberg-Holm piece “Six Gun Territory” moved through part Sousa march, waltz, and baseball anthem. Brotzmann’s long waves were countered by the cries of William’s saxophone and Vandermark’s fuzzy overtones. The entire track simmered to an end under Kent Kessler’s solo into silence.

Brotzmann’s “Signs” played like cartoon music with the musicians responding to cues, coaxing others onto higher planes before running out of gas (on signal). Likewise Mars Williams’ “Ultra Man vs. Alien Metro” continued the cartoon themes with an oppressive march, poking and prodding into a Lincoln Center-like swing passage.

Closing to standing ovation, the triumphant Tentet scored a solid victory in Pittsburgh.