Richard Moore: Now What Now

Dark Ruminations, tintinnabulations, wails and groans, squeaks and moans, washes of menacing background noise—an existential sountrack for a burgeoning century. That's Richard Moore's Now What Now on Louie Records, one of the more adventurous jazz labels around.

"It's O.K. to have that big question mark there." So says Moore, on his slow-burning new-millennium rant about a "Little Scientist Guy" (track 3) "...messing around with some fundamental stuff." (DNA)

Louie Records, based in percussionist Dave Storrs converted garage in Corvalis, Oregon, is better known for putting out some of most exciting new improvised jazz on the scene. But on this one they embrace Richard Moore's big musical question mark, with an offbeat/spoken word/bongo-backing-the-space-ship-noises soundscape

Remember The Beatles? Four British guys, funny haircuts? They indulged themselves, wonderfully, with some fairly offbeat things late in their game. "Revolution #9" on The White Album, "You Know My Name, Look Up the Number" that was a flip side to one of their later hits. Now What Now has that indulgent, experimental feel to it: let's go out in the garage, turn on the switches and grab some instruments and see what happens atmosphere.

"At some point, the question occurs: what is my purpose in life," says Richard Moore on the title track, before he rolls into a smoldering rumination on the theme.

With Now What Now he seems to have found his.