Yoshie Fruchter's Pitom: Alive and Well

Yoshie Fruchter has been a presence within the Radical Jewish and Modern Klezmer music circles for nearly 3 decades. His ensemble, Pitom, showcases many facets of his deep knowledge in those scenes as filtered through the sludge-clouded lenses of grunge, doom, and just straight metal. The band has released three full length albums since its inception, including Pitom (Tzadik, 2008), a follow-up entitled Blasphemy And Other Serious Crimes (Tzadik, 2011), both housed on John Zorn 's Tzadik  imprint—and now, Alive and Well which boasts the original lineup expanded with a mad, mad organ from Jamie Saft. From beginning to end, this collection of eight originals from Fruchter and company never lets off the gas. 

Pitom's original roster features Fruchter on guitars and all compositions along with comrades Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz on bass, Jeremy Brown on viola/violin, and Kevin Zubek on drums. This versatile ensemble gives Fruchter a wide canvas to express his ideas and thoughts. As a guitarist, Fruchter is a consistently engaging, inventive performer whose sound is capable of simultaneously channelling the saturated crush of Robert Fripp or Kim Thayal with the gestural freedom of Sonny Sharrock and unique sensitivity of Roy Buchanan. Zubek's drumming, while technically facile, possesses a similar unpredictable quality with an enormous dynamic range, which grants the material a hulking depth and formidable stature. Blumenkranz, a fellow veteran of the greater NYC radical Jewish music world, makes an ideal foil for Fruchter, being equally adept at anchoring each piece as much as taking them on aesthetic detours by drawing from his extensive timbral and improvisatory vocabulary. Finally, Jeremy Brown's astonishing string work, which recalls David Cross or Eddie Jobson at their most fiery heights, soars above and through the music like some sort of possessed bird of prey. 

Alive and Well utilises a mostly dry, live production aesthetic with minimal overdubs to allow for the full, unmitigated majesty of these terrifying artists to speak with full potency at all times.  While the group shares some surface qualities with artists such as Secret Chiefs 3, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and Taraf de Haïdouks, Fruchter's direct engagement and experience with the source material at Pitom's base -namely Hasidic and Yiddish folksong -lends this music an identity deeper than mere homage or, worse, kitsch. It allows pieces like the propulsive, prog-leaning "False Profits" to be instantly relatable, earnest, and raw in the most organic sense. One thing that is often lost when modern artists try too hard at reviving a folk tradition is a fragile but unmistakable sense of playfulness, danger, and risk that is often eroded through over-polishing. Fruchter's taste, coupled with his experience, allows for a perspective and approach that expands both style and spirit, simultaneously advancing and continuing through his uniquely qualified interpretation. Of course, the final, crucial element that allows the music of Alive and Well to fully shine is Fruchter's abundant knack for strong, lyrical melodies and considerate pacing in his writing. 

Opening track "The Faint of Heart" wastes no time kicking things off by immediately launching into a declarative ostinato utilising the ultra-thick unison of guitar, organ, and octave bass. Like at other points throughout, the heaviness is counterbalanced by a mischievous sense of groove for listeners to hold on to. One can hear the full richness and dynamic of play in the solos of this piece. Saft's microtonal organ interlude gives way to a snarling, emphatic violin solo and soon is plunged headfirst into Fruchter's shredding guitar. It is a frightening description, perhaps, but the fact that it's also undeniably fun throughout speaks volumes about the intent behind Fruchter's writing; that unmistakable quality and personality that drives this piece and all the others forward. Elsewhere, Fruchter gets to indulge his winding melodies with full classic grunge and doom treatments as on the Black Sabbath -esque "Stark Reality" and later with the aptly titled "Buzzsaw" and lurching title track. All that said, the group mellows at multiple points without sacrificing any sonic gravitas. "Song Three" (which happens to be track 4) takes a melancholic motif on a slow, emphatic journey that builds to its conclusion with nods to Crazy Horse. Fruchter also channels some Giallo-era Ennio Morricone on "Emotion and Intellect" and also again on the somewhat penitent closing track "Lament."

Alive and Well is a rare beast of an album. Texturally dense but also remarkably concise and driven in a steady, inspired way that speaks highly to Fruchter's talents as a bandleader, composer, and virtuosic performer in equal measure. This music feels new, delivered directly from a pure, curious spirit. It's one thing to simply acknowledge continuum or tradition in one's work and quite another to add positively to that continuum and confidently steer it forward towards new vistas and possibilities. This well-balanced, carefully curated set of new originals amplifies and enriches the multiple styles it references without being derivative or hollow. In a word, Alive and Well feels sincere.