Chris Washburne and the SYOTOS Band: Land of Nod

"Off-White" has deliberate momentum and a forceful trombone solo by the leader, which gives way to the red-coal smolder of Ole Mathisen's angry tenor sax sound. This tension, in turn, gets released by pianist Barry Olsen's light, dancing keyboard touch. "Blue Gust" has a more optimistic feel, a freewheeling, loose-jointed atmosphere; while "Oi Ne Khoy Hrytsin Tai na Vecharntsi," a traditional Ukranian folk song, eases in as a pretty ballad that—with a flick of the light switch—wails into a fiery up-tempo romp.

The Washburne-penned "Guantanamo," a highlight, opens with a Korean gong blast woven through with piano and blaring horns. Then it shifts into overdrive with an insistent bubble and pop rhythm designed to get you up and dancing. The title tune—in spite of the suggested sentiment—has an upbeat rhymic drive behind some inpsired free-range soloing.

Washburne and his SYOTOS band close the show with two different tunes entitled "Peace." The first, by Ornette Coleman, embraces some wild and wooly dissonance and features an adventuous solo by saxophonist Mathisen; the second, by Horace Silver, slows things down to a melancholy ballad, opening with Washburne's trombone and Mathisen's clarinet slow-dancing.

In the end, Land of Nod proves itself a an adventurous and fascinating Latin jazz listening experience.

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