David S. Ware: Threads

Change is a necessary and crucial element of both life and music.

David S. Ware has always been on the edge of the creative forefront. Whether reinterpreting Sonny Rollins' classic Freedom Suite or providing electronic persuasions on Corridors & Parallels , the avant-garde/free jazz purist continues his search for music that stretches the limits. Threads may be a departure from previous recordings where Ware's muscular saxophone held the forefront, but it does not detract from his depth as a musician, composer, and arranger.

Always an adventurer in free expression, the saxophonist compiles an atypical string recording here. From the ethereal emergence of "Ananda Rotation," the creative wheel takes its course. Three of the six compositions don't even feature Ware playing his horn, instead finding him donning the role of composer and arranger as the assembled musicians Mat Maneri on viola and Daniel Bernard Roumain on violin join in with Matthew Shipp's electronic string magic. Longtime fellow visionaries bassist William Parker and drummer Guillermo E. Brown complete the ensemble in different settings.

The compositions range from the spirited sax/drum duet on the two "Weave"s to the cosmic groove of "Sufic Passages" which features intricate violin solos against Parker's always strong bass lines. The intent seems to focus more on Ware's writing prowess, which comes to a full culmination on the atmospheric and meditative title "Threads," is worth the price of admission alone. While some may question this seemingly off-kilter group of selections, it seems that Ware is once again searching for some new musical plane that may be unknown but definitely makes the journey interesting.