Solar Fire Trio: Rise Up

Prepare yourself to hate Ride Up, by the Liverpool group known as Solar Fire Trio. Not hate in the sense of bad music or difficult sounds. Hate as in "sacred hate. Like the Pravda quote from 1935, ". . . Irreconcilable, inflexible, untamable hate should be nourished by every worker, by every collective farm worker, by every soldier and office employee, by every teacher and artist, because this hate is a great, heroic, sacred hate which belongs to the proletariat."

Perhaps in the realm of free jazz, free being the key word here, that hatred is not of class or political party but of horror. Just open a newspaper, read about war, OJ Simpson arrested again, hunger, and corporate greed. Okay, close your newspapers and try to enjoy a Dave Brubeck record.

Can't do it.

Now you are ready for the Solar Fire Trio, a two saxophone plus drums trio that plays with an unrelenting fury. Pick your comparisons: Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Frank Lowe, Joe McPhee, or Peter Brötzmann—these musicians have dipped their toes into the same streams.

The disc opens with two horns blowing repeated notes as drummer Steve Belger (The Muffin Men) plows through with some heavy stick work. Soon enough Ray Dickarty (Spiritualized) and Dave Jackson are crossing swords of sound. Belger keeps things in a driving mode throughout the opener, and the energy and volume either invite you in or drive you away.

If you are still with us, the remaining two tracks, nearly thirty minutes of music, balances some simmering quiet moments with more energetic jazz. Volume doesn't change this music. Try playing it at a low volume and the intensity remains. Raise the decibels and the flower opens.

The experience can be quite exhausting. Certainly the most appropriate quote here is from ex-Clash front-man, Joe Strummer: "Oh anything I want, he gives it to me / Anything I want, he gives it but not for free / It's hateful / And it's paid for and I'm so grateful / To be nowhere.