Reut Regev: This Is R*Time

Trombonist Reut Regev moved to New York City from Israel in 1998, and soon began working with Anthony Braxton, Frank London and Butch Morris. Her newest band is R*Time, a quartet that concentrates almost entirely on her original material. She is joined by drummer Igal Foni, bassist Brad Jones and guitarist David Phelps, the latter employing a large range of mood-altering effects boxes. Percussionist Eddie Bobé guests on two tracks.

The opening "Swill" establishes the album's highly pneumatic hectic urban bustle, busily driving into a dramatic theme. Regev is a staccato attacker, playing detailed constructions at high speed against a backdrop of sour guitar riffing and wildly skittering drums. The division is sometimes smeared between so-called jazz solos and a jamband-style propulsive motion. Melody is often taken for a loosened solo run, while solos might contain more than the usual amount of tune content. On "Hula Hula," Regev glides smoothly over a bouncing-bomb groove, but can switch in an instant from gentle enunciation to a brashly blasting outburst. "Nutcase Scenario" offers expressive space for the drums and guitar, with the latter taking on a sitar shimmer for "Balibalaila."

There are stretches where Regev sounds similar to Bruce Fowler with Captain Beefheat's Magic Band, particularly when she's cart-wheeling around a Phelps scratch-riff. "Clean Dirt" is somehow reminiscent of a Charlie Haden atmosphere, followed by the disorientated King Crimson pugilism of "True Story."