Articles by Bruce Wallace

Trio Tatsu Aoki, Robbie Lynn Hunsinger and Joseph Jarman

by Bruce Wallace
February 18, 2003

Listening to Melungeon Records’ Trio, one is reminded of the oft-repeated wisdom about Cecil Taylor’s approach to piano; that he played the instrument as if it was “eighty-eight tuned drums.” The musicians on the album have built careers out of taking their instruments beyond the roles generally reserved for them within jazz contexts.

It wouldn’t be stretching analogies too far to say that Tatsu Aoki plays the bass as if it were four tuned Taiko drums. Aside from ...