Search: Today Is Tomorrow

Today is Tomorrow is the first album for the quartet Search: reedman Matthew Maley, trumpeter/flutist RJ Avallone, bassist David Moss and drummer Bryson Kern. The well-defined motivations of the band are shaped by concept of breath. Maley and Avallone, separately and as a pair, composed this music with purpose, as interpreted in detail in the liner notes.

Noticing how the group strives for melodic unity is unavoidable. At no time do the members of the band operate against each other. Starting the first cut "Blues If It Is," the sax and trumpet perform in harmonic unison, a recurrent positioning for the horns throughout the entire disc. These instruments behave as brothers, stating progressions differently ("The Law of Gravity"), weaving in and out of each other's musicscape, but consistently reconvening in choruses that drive the musical point home. Maley blows a strong solid tenor tone, displayed as if bouncing on air ("Next") or digging down hard through the earth ("Herds"). Avallone is equally adept with the trumpet, exploring its range from the highest pitch to vibratos, flutters, continuously flowing lines ("Joujouka") and pure tone.

Reverently, the bass and the drums supply rhythmic undercurrents. Fluently applying reverberant pizzicato form, Moss bridges the delivery from one horn to the other, carves out introductions on which the instruments can depend ("Breathe") and operates as hinge to each instrument's sound. Kern refrains from being explosive, drawing away from the heaviness of the bass line. He forms simple figures on the kit, lightly ticks cymbal/snare combinations as if to dance and lightens the overall intensity by jingling a set of bells, most significantly, at the end of the record.