Daniel Carter / Sabir Mateen / William Parker / Lou Grassi: Keeping It In Context

This resounding blast from the past affirms drummer Lou Grassi's decision to flip from mainly commercial music to the adventurous end of the spectrum. He recorded Keeping It In Context in a 1996 session with some of New York City's finest avant practitioners following PoGressions (CJR, 1996), the date that led to him first dipping his toe in the free jazz waters. However, over time he forgot about the tapes. But when they resurfaced in 2023, their quality was immediately apparent and more than justified their release. Set on the path, Grassi helmed numerous subsequent sets on the CIMP label and forged a lasting partnership with Joe Fonda, Roy Campbell and Mark Whitecage in the Nu Band.

His collaborators on Keeping It In Context are the established axis of multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter and reedman Sabir Mateen, and bassist William Parker, all familiar spirits on the Lower East Side scene. Having assembled such a high-class crew, Grassi sensibly gives them free rein, and as a result, he follows as much as he leads. Both hornmen are superbly skilled at on-the-fly orchestration, and their fluid interweaving had already graced outfits like the legendary TEST and the short-lived One World Ensemble. They judiciously mix spontaneous fanfares and incandescent solos with airy lyrical interludes. As a result, the combination offers one of the clearest merits of these three lengthy studio cuts.

However, even they are eclipsed by Parker, here at the top of his game as an improviser. Without equal in this arena, he melds fire music, blazes and blues inflections into kinetic momentum that carries everything and everyone along. Grassi himself maintains a tonally varied, multidirectional rumble that doesn't constrain anyone. But as the somber consonant start to "The Surface Of No Strain" shows, conflagrations comprise only one aspect of the group's personality. At 35 minutes, it is the longest track and the centerpiece of the set. Even as twin tenor saxophones ignite, they temper the flares with heartfelt cries, whether anguish or ecstasy.

It also supplies instances indicative of their ability to shape such long-form improvisation without losing interest. Even at the heights of passion, Parker has an overall arc in mind as he switches to his bow to redirect the energy. While Mateen continues his ululations, Carter responds with cooler long tones, in a winding down which presages a move back to the more solemn mood of the opening.

If Grassi pitches himself into the deep end, he emerges with flying colors, not only holding his own but proving an essential component of a wonderful high-octane performance.