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Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Left Hook, Right Cross
by Robert Spencer
In the rollicking circus that is the music of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, some of his forays too slavishly imitate the shallow funk grooves of his latter days, while on others, he lets his muse roam more freely, and comes up with more than a few gems on Volunteered Slavery. Of course, there is a kitschy take ...
Karen Shane: It's Anybody's Spring
by Robert Spencer
Wow! Karen Shane has a vibrant voice somewhat reminiscent of Phoebe Snow's, and just as richly evocative and maybe even more varied and expressive. On this delightful collection of thirteen jazzy tunes (including one original), she shows an impressive command of the jazz idiom and a wonderful ability to invest even the hoariest chestnuts (like “But ...
Vincenzo Mazzone: Ping Pong
by Robert Spencer
Genesi 2, which comprises the first ten tracks of this disc, is a “Composition for 9 percussionists," performed by the “Sud Percussion Group." That's right: nine percussionists. No horns, no piano. No bass! Think that can't be exciting? Think that all-percussion music can't be varied enough to sustain a disc? Think again. There is enough dynamic ...
Steve Lacy Seven: Clich
by Robert Spencer
Clichés is a partial reissue of the Hat Hut double LP Prospectus, but tape deterioration unfortunately ate up a portion of the original 1982 recording, including the former title track. So: Clichés is what remains, a CD-length look at Lacy's long-running and protean sextet, augmented by trombonist George Lewis. Although almost twenty years have passed, this ...
Brett Larner, Shoko Hikage, and Philip Gelb: Indistancing
by Robert Spencer
Brett Larner is a master of the Japanese guitar-like koto, on which he has recorded a breathtaking series of duets with Anthony Braxton. On this fine disc he is joined by fellow koto player Shoko Hikage, along with Philip Gelb, who wields another traditional Japanese instrument, the flute-like shakuhachi. This is improvised music that is formed ...
Not Missing Drums Project: Offline Adventures
by Robert Spencer
Twenty-three tracks, twenty-two of which are less than five minutes long apiece, plus one that runs almost twelve minutes. A floating ensemble of never more than nine players or fewer than two on any one track. Vocalists, chittering, chattering, ululating ("Kip Torro!"). Trombonists, clarinets, cellists, and more. A vertiginous quality, so that a boffo reed solo ...
Mat Maneri Trio: So What?
by Robert Spencer
Mat Maneri, the world's challenging microtonal electric violinist, explains that he once studied Baroque violin, in which the bowing style creates an “almost horn like sound." He goes on to explain that “I'm not trying to get a horn sound now, but I am trying to get horn phrasing." Certainly there are moments on So What? ...
Statements Quintet: The Cat's Pyjamas
by Robert Spencer
Power chords, albeit rather faint. Than a Derek Bailey-type fingering, gradually losing Bailey and picking up speed, while the power chords continue. Then a querulous violin and an aimlessly questing piano. Percussion not keeping time but punctuating the statements of the violin, piano, and guitar. “Three Forms," this first track, ultimately turns into a skittering and ...
Bertrand Denzler Cluster: Y?
by Robert Spencer
I put this one on, and I thought, “Hmmm. Unusual instrumentation. Vibes? Marimba? Xylophone? And what's that? Synthesizer? Or some other kind of electronic thingy?" Turns out to be a prepared piano, a la John Cage's groundbreaking sonatas of the late Forties, and here masterfully deployed by Benoît Delbecq, who also plays a standard piano. But ...
Derek Bailey: Fairly Early with Postscripts
by Robert Spencer
Derek Bailey is the master of the ungroove, of the sound of the moment without reliance on rhythmic or melodic predictability. His guitar music, as well as being tuneless and arhythmic, is forbidding and full of noise effects. Consequently, perhaps the only predictable thing on this disc of miscellaneous pieces dating from 1971 to 1988 is ...
