Memorize the Sky: Memorize the Sky

Drones carry most of the album with percussion punctuation marks blended in randomly. While the woodwinds, bass and vibraphone are certainly capable of a melodic phrase, the trio prefers instead to converse with grunts, groans, raspy chunks and somber tones. Wallace's bowed bass becomes an instrument for brief, detached moans. Bauder's tenor becomes a large mouthpiece whose purpose is to stop the tongue in accentuated darts. Siegel, who accepts his role as percussionist without meter or tempo, colors with a vast array of tools.

"Cloud of Clay differs from the rest and comes closest to traditional music, as the big, booming bass adopts a primitive tom-tom beat for six minutes while Bauder and Siegel throw random sounds around the room. A few of the noises that they add are so unique that they're difficult to identify but many have been overused in free jazz circles. This experienced trio has had plenty of time to explore the universe of unusual sounds. Their collaborative efforts would be best aimed at organizing these sounds in innovative ways.

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