Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double: March

This is the second release by drummer and vibraphonist Tomas Fujiwara's unique double trio with himself and Gerald Cleaver on drums, Mary Halvorson and Brandon Seabrook on guitar and Taylor Ho Bynum and Ralph Alessi on brass, a group that can be configured as two trios, three pairs of instruments or something in between. The sound of the resulting combinations can come out ambient or raucous, but tends towards an angular prog-jazz fusion sound, that can pack the punch of twenty-first century King Crimson with half the personnel.

"Pack Up Coming For You," begins as a menacing stomp laid down by the trio of Fujiwara, Bynum and Halvorson which gets overwhelmed and turned into a smeary whirlpool by the remaining three players. "Life Gets Only More" is a quieter track. It has Alessi's trumpet and Bynum' s cornet gracefully sailing over swaying drums and breezy guitar strumming before settling into a spot of percussive rustling over guitar riffs. "Wave Shake and Angle Bounce" is an excellent measure of how fierce the group can sound. Bynum and Alessi peal out strongly over a quick stepping drum line and Halvorson and Seabrook barrel in ferociously like a tag team of Robert Fripp and John McLaughlin as Fujiwara's vibes float gently through the atmosphere.

"The March of the Storm Before the Quiet of the Dance" is a haunted combination of ideas. One horn sounds plaintively up front while the other crankily wah-wahs in the rear and a slow-rolling mix of drums and vibes drift through the middle space. Then the guitars begin to catch fire and engage with the drummers in choppy, relentless interplay eventually swallowed by a keening electric vortex. "Docile Fury Ballad" begins as unabashed prog-rock thrash with the guitars and drums blasting repeatedly and relentlessly. This leads into sections involving squeezed noises and loud acrobatics from the brass, trippy electronic squeals, and more heavy guitar. "Silhouettes in Smoke" follows with a piece of quiet, contemplative beauty, a controlled, mellow guitar line pierced by two separate but complimentary horn melodies and thickened with vibraphone. The final track, "For Alan, Part II" is by the drummers alone, an extended rolling improvised conversation by Fujiwara and Cleaver dedicated to the leader's teacher, drummer Alan Dawson. It is an ongoing rumble of pattering beats and soft cymbal crashes that opens into a limber workout on African rhythms.

Fujiwara makes use of his group's singular instrumentation to create an exhilarating mixture of sounds. His compositions give his players space to chase grooves, spin into crazy electric freak-outs, maneuver lyrical ballad lines or pound with hair-raising force all with a sense of clarity and form. This seemingly limited instrumental palette of trumpet, guitar and drums gets spun into potent music definitely worth a listen.

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