Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Morris / Gauci / Lane: Studio Sessions Vol. 3

2

Morris / Gauci / Lane: Studio Sessions Vol. 3

By

View read count
Morris / Gauci / Lane: Studio Sessions Vol. 3
There is a surprise in store on Brooklyn tenor saxophonist Stephen Gauci's Studio Sessions Volume 3. Not only is celebrated erstwhile guitarist and bassist Joe Morris an unexpected face alongside the reedman, but this time out he features on an unfamiliar instrument, seated behind the drum kit for the two lengthy excursions into uncharted territory. However, it is not all new; bassist Adam Lane, one of Gauci's most regular collaborators who regularly anchors the hornman's quartet, completes the line up.

Morris shows himself to be an accomplished drummer in the free jazz style, generating a wall of sound chatter which allows Gauci freedom to move in whichever direction he wishes, but also results in more of a continuous flow than the sometimes fragmented ethos of Gauci's work with his quartet. Whether it is Morris' influence or not, the reedman hews much closer to the fire music tradition than is often the case, although the muscular middle register and gruff bottom end that he excavates nonetheless come peppered by frequent sorties into a characteristic piping falsetto.

The first untitled improvisation reveals a resolutely group music, with Gauci often in the foreground, and only brief unaccompanied spots. Morris' tumbling clatter and Lane's nimble pizzicato blizzard set up a shuffling momentum, before Gauci joins in crusty roughshod vein. Highlights include a glorious string of split tone honks punctuating an outpouring which itself suggests distant allusions to the saxophonist's bop grounding.

Later still, the interplay quietens to leave Lane alone, sawing a drone while simultaneously picking on one string to create a sitar-like effect. Those instances when Lane wields the bow also yield some of the most memorable moments in the second improvisation, which embarks in a choppier mode than its predecessor, before ending with the bassist locked into a repeated pattern, as Gauci intersperses staccato wickering and abrasive blurts into an extended legato workout to achieve a satisfying closure.

Track Listing

Untitled Improvisation 1; Untitled Improvisation 2.

Personnel

Joe Morris
bass, acoustic
Stephen Gauci
saxophone, tenor
Adam Lane
bass, acoustic

Album information

Title: Studio Sessions Vol. 3 | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Gaucimusic

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

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

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.