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Anat Fort: A Long Story
ByThe band proves itself a dream collective. Drummer Paul Motian, who can take a good deal of credit for democratizing the sound of the standard piano trio with his work with pianist Bill Evans in the early '60s, taps out subtle textural and timekeeping complexities, using just sticks and brushes, stretched skin and metal discs to create the deepest art. Ed Schuller, with a long history of collaboration with Motian and Robinson, provides an anchoring but always-malleable pulse; and clarinetist Perry Robinson adds, by turns, both warm tones and the occasional edgy grit to the mix.
The "Just Now" theme gets three variations, once as a trio, one solo take, and the closer with the full quartet. Perry Robinson emerges from the piano trio offerings on the third cut, "Lullaby," talking on his dark wood, telling a soothing story with the Stephen Foster-like melody.
"Not a Dream" drifts into noir territory, with Robinson's clarinet growling low along a dark alley and Fort's solo unwinding from the shadows, beginning with a stark simplicity that evolves into alluring abstraction before it tightens up again.
A Long Story sings with a floating, ethereal, Middle Eastern-flavored charm and a gorgeous group dynamic. No review, no blocky stack of paragraphs can do justice to its unadorned organic beauty. It has to be heard.
Track Listing
Just Now, Var. I; Morning: Good; Lullaby; Chapter-Two; Just Now, Var. II; Not a Dream?; Rehaired; As Two/Something 'bout Camels; Not the Perfect Storm; Chapter-One; Just Now, Var. III.
Personnel
Anat Fort
pianoAnat Fort: piano; Perry Robinson: clarinet, ocarina; Ed Schuller: bass; Paul Motian: drums.
Album information
Title: A Long Story | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: ECM Records
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