Hamid Drake / Albert Beger / William Parker: Evolving Silence, Vol. 1 (2006)

Glenn Astarita

Senior Contributor since 1997

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

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Published: April 10, 2006

Hamid Drake / Albert Beger / William Parker: Evolving Silence, Vol. 1

Israeli tenor saxophonist Albert Beger uses a no-nonsense blood-and-guts attack during most of this turbocharged, free-form modern jazz exposition. Beger goes toe-to-toe with two famed jazz artists, bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake, whose fluid, driving rhythms set the stage for this action-packed session. On "Naked Truth, Drake's sweeping press rolls behind Parker's briskly flowing bass lines serve as a heated foundation for Beger's jaunts into the stratosphere. Rather judiciously, they feed off each other's ideas on this collection of off-kilter funk grooves and spirited improvisation-drenched exercises.

The trio splinters off into duos on two aptly titled pieces, "Duo #1 and "Duo #2. Parker picks up the doussn'gouni (West African hunter's harp) during "Rain is Coming, where Beger's yearning lines are marked by vocal attributes. Elsewhere, Drake peppers the trio with snappy rim-shots and polyrhythmic tom-generated fills.

Beger is one of Israel's top jazz saxophonists, and his talent shines forth rather prominently on Evolving Silence. He rises to the occasion with the support of a dream rhythm section that injects the necessary ingredients, allowing the artists' respective energies to be continually redistributed. Not to be overlooked.

Track Listing: Naked Truth; Duo #1; Duo #2; Rain Is Coming.

Personnel: Hamid Drake: drums, percussion; Albert Beger: tenor saxophone, alto flute; William Parker: bass, doussn�gouni (African hunter's harp).

Record Label: Earsay
Style: Modern Jazz