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Raphe Malik: ConSequences
Malik is a powerful trumpeter full of heraldic fanfares, excoriating runs and broad smears, in addition to his artful composition. Mateen first came to my notice as a voice deserving further recognition on Marc Edwards excellent ‘Red Sprites and Blue Jets’ on CIMP. He is now appearing on a gratifying number of recordings and his performance here gives ample testimony as to why this should be so. His bluesy cries, sinuous runs and electrifying forays into the higher registers played with iron control are all effortlessly integrated into the ebb and flow of the music. Denis Charles lays down a buoyant rhythm stoking the fires under the soloists. In his features he purposefully dissects the rhythm and examines each component motif before reassembling them into a coherent whole. Parker is never less than excellent whether underpinning the improvisations with his rock solid walking or calling down the stars with his multiphonic arco solos.
There are telling touches throughout with themes gently restated behind soloists to ground their extemporisations, eventually leading to the horns spiralling heavenwards as on ‘Ditchweed’. Or on ‘GG’ where Mateen plays a lick in his solo which is instantly picked up by Malik who runs it down with glee. Or ‘3X Twice’ where Mateen’s stratospheric whistling brings a keening high register run from Malik in return. The only longeur is during the lengthy bass solo on ‘The Gift’ where Parker is pursuing different ideas in different registers, which doesn’t translate well to disc for me. That is a minor blemish on one of the year’s best recordings. Listen for yourself.
Tracks: Dominate Predicate; The Gift; Ditchweed; 3X Twice; Ghost Dance; GG. Total time: 65.51
Personnel
Raphe Malik
trumpetRaphe Malik
Album information
Title: ConSequences | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: Eremite Records
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