Home » Jazz Articles » Multiple Reviews » Jason Robinson: Eyes In The Back Of My Head & Fingerprint

380

Jason Robinson: Eyes In The Back Of My Head & Fingerprint

By

Sign in to view read count








Cosmologic
Eyes in the Back of My Head
Cuneiform
2008


Jason Robinson
Fingerprint
Circumvention Music
2008




Over the past decade, street-savvy, hard-hitting urban quartet Cosmologic has built its high-impact, low-comfort-zone approach to groupwork that recalls Anthony Braxton's small-band intelligence and The Fringe's raw energy. The California-based band enjoys bumpy textures, aggressive stances, loose-wheeled (if not off-track) soloing and equal voices for horns and rhythm players.

The writing in Eyes in the Back of My Head, generally implied rather than scored, is weighted equally between drummer Nathan Hubbard (longish suite-like pieces that roil and reflect in jagged parts), trombonist Michael Dessen ("Code View"'s open-ended circle jam rumbles into weird chorale and out to hammering dance and "The Rumpus" instigates a group shout) and sax-man Jason Robinson (an impatiently pulsing pro-Darfur rail-wail and a pensive Future/Past poem that opens memorably with a booming arpeggiated bowed bass turn for Scott Walton). A swaggering unison melody for horns alone ends the set.

Fingerprint, on Robinson's newly formed Circumvention Music label, offers quite a different quartet (and perspective on the leader's cross-cultural interests): Hubbard stays on drums with bassist Rob Thorsen and pianist/soprano saxophonist Kamau Kenyatta. Robinson, whose tenor sax owns a burly, robust sound and stirs up skeins of fluttering melody, is sometimes reminiscent of Lew Tabackin's expressive grit and Billy Harper's declamatory keening. He's plenty adventurous in terms of environments and horn sonics (he works stuttering triple-tonguing into his playing like rock salt rubbed on raw steak, as in the opening cadenza of his hauntingly Strayhorn-esque ballad "Conundrum").

The foursome amble unhurriedly across four tidy originals, stretched with juicy vamps and solo spots, and tantalizingly titled like "The Wiggle Room" and "Thin Veil". A trio without Kenyatta expands to quintet on two tracks featuring guest pianist Anthony Davis and Dessen. This quintet is further fleshed out by flute section on "Silence Becomes A Roar," a languid sassy romp balancing 6/8+2/8 with seething solos by Davis and Dessen, where Robinson reaches a sonority that's fuller and deeper amid the treble voices, especially in the framing call-and-response chorales and the all-out coda (composer credits are missing on the CD package, but one can hear Davis' influence). "Forest Cover," a spirited stutter strut, features agile soprano, a feisty duel between Robinson and Dessen and a rattling solo fantasia by Davis. Robinson leads decidedly thoughtful, ebullient explorations into interior creative landscapes.


Tracks and Personnel

Eyes in the Back of My Head

Tracks: The Rumpus; Eyes in the Back of My Head; Dreams of an Alternate Future/Remembering the Past; Face in the Crowd; Code View; Theme for Darfur; The Apex is the Whole; We Kiss in a Shadow on the Other Side of This.

Personnel: Jason Robinson: tenor saxophone; Michael Dessen: trombone; Scott Walton: bass; Nathan Hubbard: drums.

Fingerprint

Tracks: The Wiggle Room; Serendipity; Silence Becomes a Roar; Conundrum; Forest Cover; Thin Veil.

Personnel: Jason Robinson: tenor sax; Kamau Kenyatta: piano and soprano sax; Rob Thorsen: bass; Nathan Hubbard: drums; Anthony Davis: piano (3, 5); Michael Dessen: trombone (3, 5); wind ensemble (3): Ellen Weller: flute; Adnan Marquez-Borbon: flute; Andrew Geib: flute; Gabriel Sundy: bass clarinet; Scott Walton: conductor.

Comments

Tags


For the Love of 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 create 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.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve 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.
View events near New York City
Jazz Near New York City
Events Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...

More

Fiesta at Caroga
Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective
Fellowship
David Gibson
Immense Blue
Olie Brice / Rachel Musson / Mark Sanders

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

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