Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Bruce Freedman Trio: Enormous Moments

133

Bruce Freedman Trio: Enormous Moments

By

View read count
Bruce Freedman Trio: Enormous Moments
Enormous Moments by saxophonist Bruce Freedman’s trio reminds one of the revolutionary sounds made by Ornette Coleman, circa 1960. Unlike Coleman, Freedman has no motive for anarchy and certainly in the 21st century, where nothing’s shocking, I cannot claim to have been shocked by this recording. But listeners familiar with the revolution of jazz sounds certainly will appreciate this trio’s approach.

Freedman, a Vancouver native, has been playing jazz for nearly twenty years, recording with the Barry Guy, George Lewis, Rene Lussier, Paul Plimley, and Gregg Bendian. His approach to composition and playing incorporates the techniques of more outward free jazz players like Evan Parker, Mats Gustafsson and Sam Rivers into tighter, more accessible formations. Like a storyteller, he holds your attention by returning to themes and patterns within a song. At the start of “The Demon Preaches Back,” be begins with a statement that gets repeated, mantra like, through a chase and flurry of energy. Likewise the title tracks, part one and two, that bookend this recording repeat a slow figure that is ripe for group improvisation. With Freedman on soprano saxophone, “Oasis” draws a straight line back to the theories and music of John Coltrane and his almost infinite permutations for improvisational patterns. His working trio plays off this freedom/composed approach, responding with their own improvisations yet strictly adhering to the framework of each song. In other words, they take their listeners to the precipice of deconstruction but never fall into the abyss.

Fortunately Bruce Freedman and company play this music with very little risk that like Ornette Coleman, crowds will destroy his horn and chase them out of town. He does though play jazz music like there is no more important mission in this world. Highly recommended. Contact Bruce Freedman at www.vancouverjazz.com/freedman

Track Listing

Enormous Moments 1; Lena Leaps; Oasis; Ruby; A Mountain Pool; Footprints; The Demon Preaches Back; Enormous Moments 2.

Personnel

Bruce Freedman

Album information

Title: Enormous Moments | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: BFT

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.