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Michael Musillami Trio: Dachau
ByMusillami has released a dozen albums under his own name since the label's inceptionthe kind of output that is only possible with a small and focused independent outfitwith ensembles ranging from duo to octet. Dachau is the second by his working trio with Schuller and bassist Joe Fonda. This time, however, he enlists trumpeter Dave Ballou and labelmates Tom Christensen and pianist Peter Madsen to expand the sonic palette on four of his seven original compositions. By ranging from trio to sextet settings, the album is as much a vehicle for Musillami the conceptualist as it is Musillami the writer and performer.
The trio tracks show just how far the group has come since its 2003 release, Beijing. Musillami's tone may be soft and round, but his lines are often angularlogical extensions of his almost mathematically precise compositions. While he travels in different circles than saxophonist Tim Berne, an inner logic that links the two. Even when Musillami's trio is exploring the outer boundaries of the material, there's always a pathobscure though it might seemleading back to form. The interplay among the three is so intrinsic that it's not only impossible to tell who is reacting to whom. It's irrelevant.
When the guests are brought in to create denser texturesespecially on the sextet title trackthe bond between Schuller and Fonda is brought into even greater focus, as is Musillami's clear direction. The twelve-minute "Dachau" traverses considerable terrain with clearly delineated soloists at times, but a more collective approach to its development at others. Madsen is especially on point, here and on "Part Pitbull which the two originally recorded as a duetavoiding a more conventional accompanist role during Musillami's solo, instead engaging in interactive conversation.
Musillami's complex world owes a lot to guitarist Joe Dioriowhose book Intervallic Designs pushed a number of known guitarists in new directions, even as Diorio himself has remained almost completely beneath the radar. But Diorio's innovatively anti-linear approach has provided players like Musillami an alternative foundation from which to evolve. Dachau continues to repay the debt, building a musical universe with its own unique lyricism, albeit one of a more oblique design.
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Track Listing
Dresden; Archives; Dachau; Part Pitbull; Rottweil; Today the Angels; Metaphor 3.4.5.
Personnel
Michael Musillami
guitarMichael Musillami: guitar; Joe Fonda: bass; George Schuller: drums, bells, shaker, toy hammer whistle. With Peter Madsen: piano on
Album information
Title: Dachau | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Playscape Recordings
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About Michael Musillami
Instrument: Guitar
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