By: David R. Adler
hereas 1999's My Window featured guitarist
Ed Littman in the company of one of jazz fusion's most
famous rhythm teams (Mark Egan and Danny Gottlieb),
this debut by Littman's "Splatt" trio has more the flavor
of a full-time band. Together with Danny Zanker on
acoustic and electric bass and John Bollinger on drums,
Littman serves up music that sits somewhere between
fusion, free jazz, and avant-garde rock. His guitar style
calls to mind not only the edgy, dirty funk of John
Scofield, but also the more twisted sensibilities of a
player like Marc Ducret. His metal proclivities come out
on tracks like "Grind It" and "Another Emotion." Both
"Yippy" and "Watch Your Step" involve an out-of-tempo
yet highly melodic flow that demands tremendous
sensitivity from each member of the trio. "Trap-Op" and
"Godda Quarter" find Littman messing with tape and
noise effects and creating an offbeat, collage-like effect,
while the surf-tango atmosphere of "Night Sky" sounds
like something right out of Pulp Fiction. Quite a few of
the tracks were collectively composed, and two of
Zanker's originals - "Loners" and "Plus" - make it on
to the disc, highlighting the collaborative nature of the
project.
Keep the disc playing a few minutes past the end of the final
track and you'll hear a couple of "off the record" throwaways
that Littman decided to sneak in. The first is a dissonant,
multi-tracked acoustic guitar piece and the second is a ditty
called "Mr. Blues," which Littman sings and plays as if he's
sitting somewhere on a rural front porch. These phantom
tracks provoke a bit of psychological speculation: Littman was
keen enough to share them by putting them on the disc, but he
made it so they could be easily missed.
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