Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core: The Neon Truth (2002)

Glenn Astarita

Senior Contributor since 1997

Longtime contributor to AAJ and Downbeat, Jazz Review, EjazzNews, Radio DirectX.

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Published: February 19, 2003

Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core: The Neon Truth

Three giants of modern jazz improvisation provide some enlightenment by way of a bass-less trio consisting of two drummers and woodwinds. Drummers Don Robinson and Scott Amendola pursue snappy dialogue awash with melodic, polyrhythmic-based exchanges. Whereas, reedman Larry Ochs leads this multifaceted exposition through an over-the-top approach to the drummers’ swarming frameworks and swirling support mechanisms. They elicit notions of dance, albeit abstractly. Yet the musicians maintain a loose stride as they slice and dice through a musical forest consisting of tribal rhythms and complex discourses. Throughout, Ochs serves as the conductor atop the rhythm section’s rumbling forays. Moreover, the saxophonist’s twisting lines and sinewy mode of attack adds an element of intrigue to this program. The presentation, when viewed as a singular whole, contains substance! Not just a meaningless cutting session, but more of a focused endeavor, featuring the players’ acutely organized fabrics of sound that go straight to the heart. Recommended...

Black Saint

Track Listing: 1.Wrong Right Wrong 2.The Neon Truth 3.Give Me 209 4.Finn Crosses Mars 5.Xanic Rides Again 6.And Nothing But 7.Red Shift 8.Blues Keep Calling

Personnel: Larry Ochs: tenor and sopranino saxophones

Record Label: Black Saint
Style: Modern Jazz