The Circle of Willis: The Circle of Willis

It is apparent that they like being quirky. It is also apparent that the rest of the music is better harnessed, even when they do it “For Marie,” a flirt with the blues that dissolves in to the shade of klezmer music before it quickly emerges and makes its way as a melancholic ballad. There is more woof to the warp and it comes in one fell “Mr. Scoop,” a jaunty ride that is Weillesian in temper. Wayne Peet brings in bright color, a happy frisk to his step, perfectly augmented by Bill Barrett's clean and wholesome voicings while Scot Ray expresses a disjunctive point of view, yowling below them, setting loose both a smear and a blap for well documented effect. There is more method, and a little madness, on “The Colonel’s Zhok.” Peet pirouettes, Ray blows a broadside of thick, swaddling notes drenched in the blues and Barrett takes the road of the high flying note, just this side of a wail and full of whammy. There is a nook full of surprises here, most of them pleasant.

Visit www.billbarrett.net

Comments