orever Sharp & Vivid has released as its self-titled debut a
polished and engaging recording that straddles the worlds of
instrumental improvisation and contemporary electronic techniques
such as tape looping and drum-synth triggering. The core
instrumentation, drums/guitar/woodwinds, calls to mind Marshall
Travis Wood as well as Lovano, Frisell, and Motian, but the sound
here is less "garage" than the former and less jazz than the latter.
Drummer/percussionist Chris Massey is consciously indebted to
Motian, as is evidenced not only by his drum set playing on much of
the disc, particularly Annette Peacock's "Nothing Ever Was, Anyway,"
but also by the inclusion of a Motian composition, "The Hoax." The
whacked-out free improv of the body of this tune is pure Motian, as
is the ensemble arrangement of the angular melody, which returns at
the end after a strategic, brief silence. Massey is impressive on the
exotic Udu drum on "Breath" and "The Undertow." His laid back 7/4
groove on "Gore" is a highlight, as is his keep-them-guessing
stickwork on "Ascension."
Guitarist David Torn looms large on the record. On "Breath"
he plays acoustic, combining percussive slide stabs and down-home
bluesy riffs with big open-string harmonics and suspended harmonies
that call Ralph Towner to mind. The acoustic returns later in the
program on "Godzilla and Rodan." The tracks "Gore" and "A Short
Visit" feature Torn on electric with subtle distortion playing
singing, sustaining single-note melodies that recall Allan Holdsworth
and at times Bill Frisell. Threaded throughout the album is his
ethereal, atmospheric, heavily processed and looped presence,
credited on the sleeve as "various effected sounds." I like the
low-octaved tracking effect on "The Hoax" and the wild, digitized
decay of his notes on "Nothing Ever Was, Anyway."
David CasTiglione (aka "CasT") plays hip lines and dark tones
on bass clarinet and plaintive melodies on tenor sax. His mastery of
harmonics is on display on the drums/sax duet "Fertile Crescent." He
also contributes three strong compositions of his own (all the other
original material is credited to the trio collectively). "A Short
Visit" is a terrific, moody piece with a subtly suggested tempo; "The
Undertow" is a hypnotic feature for bass clarinet and Udu drum; and
the closer, "Fudomaio," is an ethereal swingscape with jazz-inflected
ride cymbal and a pretty, uplifting melody on tenor.
In short, this is very unusual and very listenable stuff. The
collaboration between these three avant-garde veterans has worked,
and one hopes they will continue to record together in the future.
orever Sharp & Vivid has released as its self-titled debut a
polished and engaging recording that straddles the worlds of
instrumental improvisation and contemporary electronic techniques
such as tape looping and drum-synth triggering. The core
instrumentation, drums/guitar/woodwinds, calls to mind Marshall
Travis Wood as well as Lovano, Frisell, and Motian, but the sound
here is less "garage" than the former and less jazz than the latter.