Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » The Rempis Percussion Quartet: Rip Tear Crunch

118

The Rempis Percussion Quartet: Rip Tear Crunch

By

View read count
The Rempis Percussion Quartet: Rip Tear Crunch
The first striking thing about this music is the sense of space which just could have been the last outcome from a quartet lineup that includes two drummers. As it turns out, this music has a suppleness and flexibility that bodes well for the future of the group, as well as for any listener who gets pleasure from hearing a working band evolve on record.

Dave Rempis's alto sax has something of the work of Marion Brown about it, and during times when some influences seem all-pervasive while others seem at best negligible, it's nice to get the impression that someone has actually been paying attention to Brown's always subtle uses of tone and shade. On "Shreds Rempis also shows that he knows the value of understatement; there isn't a surplus note to be heard.

At some 26 minutes, the title track embodies the heart of the disc at the same time as it arguably outstays its welcome, despite—or perhaps because of—its episodic nature. Tim Daisy and Frank Rosaly do show some remarkable dovetailing at their two sets of percussion, but the fact remains that Rempis resorts to a variety of squally note-scattering on baritone sax that can get a little wearing. In the midst of it, bassist Anton Hatwitch seems almost to play the role of a postmodern Jimmy Garrison.

The twelve-minute closer, "The Rub, is a radically different affair, episodically evoking as it does the spirit of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. This is no bad thing in view of the fact that such rarefied group interplay these days seems to be an unfairly devalued musical currency.

If this disc can be viewed as the setting out of a stall, then it has succeeded admirably in that aim. With any luck this group will stay together long enough and record together often enough to offer an ongoing overview of its work in progress.

Track Listing

Shreds; Flank; Rip Tear Crunch; Dirty Work Can Be Clean Fun; The Rub.

Personnel

Dave Rempis: alto, tenor and baritone saxophones; Anton Hatwich: bass; Tim Daisy: percussion; Frank Rosaly: percussion.

Album information

Title: Rip Tear Crunch | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: 482 Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About 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 make 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.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves 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

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

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

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.