Borah Bergman with Conny Bauer & Mat Maneri: The River Of Sounds (2002)

Glenn Astarita

Senior Contributor since 1997

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

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Published: February 1, 2002

Three distinguished proponents of the jazz-based avant-garde, or new music, scene converge for a somewhat frenetic encounter of musical minds on The River Of Sounds. Pianist Borah Bergman's Cecil Taylor-like excursions are enhanced and personalized by his acute sense of rhythm, inquisitive statements, intervallic leaps, and gargantuan block chords. On the sixteen-minute opener titled "Jim," the pianist commences the agenda with a simply stated, three-chord progression, while his musical cohorts accelerate the momentum with eruptive dialogue. The trio frequently alters the ebb and flow with fluctuating overtures and verbose extrapolations. However, one of the appealing factors of this project resides within the musicians' multifarious tonalities and complementary micro-motifs.

The piece "Spoiled Kresge" features Bergman's punctual block chords along with trombonist Conny Bauer and electric 6-string violinist Mat Maneri's twirling lines and abstruse thematic inventions. Bergman restates the simple three-chord progression on the tail end of "Spoiled Kresge," as the musicians venture into similar territories throughout the remainder of this imaginative session.

Info: boxhldr@aol.com

Track Listing: 1.Jim 2.The Blond Woman 3.Spindell Kresge 4.The River of Sounds 5.Children

Personnel: Borah Bergman: piano

Record Label: Boxholder Records
Style: Modern Jazz