The Jeff Kaiser Ockodekete/The Kaiser/Diaz-Infante Sextet: The Alchemical Mass/Suite Solutio

Trumpeter/composer/PfMentum label head Jeff Kaiser has managed to create a successful career in pursuit of the juncture between free music and structured contemporary composition. Closely associated with other Left Coast artists, including woodwind multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia, percussionist Brad Dutz, and contrabassist Steuart Liebig, he possesses a remarkable ability to squeeze new and often unusual sounds out of his horn. As a composer, he favours shape over form, creating compositions that are more about texture and ambience than conventional conceits. His Ockodektet is an ambitious group of eleven fearless free improvisers who also understand the meaning of more abstract construction, and where the two can coexist.

The six-movements of "The Alchemical Mass represent, perhaps, Kaiser's most ambitious undertaking to date. The brass and woodwind-heavy ensemble, in this case augmented by the Ojai Camerata choir, traverse Kaiser's often dense and deeply-layered work with a remarkable ability to follow some clearly unconventional conducting by Kaiser and Dr. Wyant Morton. Over the course of 34 minutes, the piece moves effortlessly from spare and diffuse improvisation to a maelstrom of sound that is often unsettling, reflecting a profound appreciation of music as colour. What thematic form can be found comes primarily from the choir and its Gregorian chant-based libretto, which nevertheless echoes influence by the works of 20th Century composers like György Ligeti and sometimes breaks down into apparent confusion. And while Brad Dutz's percussion and Richie West's drums are used primarily to add weight, there are brief periods where specific rhythms do emerge.

Still, despite the piece's overall grave mood, brief moments of beauty do arise from the discord, as in the beginning of the second movement, "Kyrie, which features the choir supported by little more than light percussion.

Revolving more around collective improvisation, the five-part "Suite Solutio is closer to a jazz aesthetic. Bassist Jim Connolly and drummer Richie West open the suite with a light pulse that provides both a rhythmic and harmonic anchor for the Kaiser/Diaz-Infante Sextet's more abstruse free play from Kaiser, Ernesto Diaz-Infante's prepared acoustic guitar, and Scot Ray's trombone. Still, this doesn't last long before a darker mood is introduced, leading into the totally unstructured "Part III and the fast-moving "Part IV.

The Alchemical Mass/Suite Solutio works best when one doesn't try to find an anchor. Broader exploration combines with complex organization to create an album that, while not for the faint-at-heart, manages to create its own unique ambience.

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