Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Tom Abbs & Frequency Response: Lost & Found

211

Tom Abbs & Frequency Response: Lost & Found

By

Sign in to view read count
Tom Abbs & Frequency Response: Lost & Found
Tom Abbs is a multi-instrumentalist who, besides violin and didgeridoo, plays bass, tuba and cello on this CD. He has enlivened the free jazz scene in New York, not only through his collaborations with Cooper-Moore and Steve Swell among others, but with his music as well. He thinks with a vivid imagination and as such injects his compositions with melody, free falling notes, jazz harmony and a picturesque development. The last may well spring from his role as film-maker.

The tunes here are short, but they bring home the vantage point Abbs seeks. The written note is blasted away, tempest dissolves into calm, musicians find harmony in seamless flow just as they find logic in tidal waves of cross-currents. In sum, where the band will go is unpredictable.

Volatility and intensity crackle into "Torn" after the melody has been essayed by Abbs on cello. Violinist Jean Cook rips that apart with notes that are askance as the thunder of Chad Taylor's drums and the bass rumble underneath. The switch has been seamless, an envelope of ideas invented on the go.

Abbs plucks a melody on the bass, upping the pulse like nothing ever mattered on "Tidal." It doesn't, because the band finds its groove in the fermenting waters it stirs. And so it goes from the straight-ahead approach of tenor saxophonist Brian Settles on "Cross"; Taylor adding splashes of rhythm on cymbals and snare drum, and Abbs bringing in a chamber jazz feel with arco to the bop drive of "Tightrope." Settles carves the tune open, his focus well-defined even as he opens up several stimulating ideas, the rhythm section riding along to mark the ability of the band to hew a direct course with depth.

Abbs is impressive in this illuminating approach to his craft.

Track Listing

Lost; Static; Torn; Suspect; Lock; Tidal; Parse; Consolation; Bars; Box: Cross; Pin Top; Pedestrian; Strung; Tightrope; Missing; Found; Reflection.

Personnel

Tom Abbs
bass

Tom Abbs: bass, cello, tuba; Brian Settles: tenor and soprano saxophones, flute; Jean Cook: violin; Chad Taylor: drums.

Album information

Title: Lost & Found | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Engine Studios

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.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

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