PRESS
January 29 2004
Published in: amazon.com by
Jan P. Dennis
What I love most about this disc is the crazy way the musicians have conceptualized their playing.
No instrument sounds normal.
Yet all sound glorious.
Drones. Extended techniques. Freaky repetitive figures. Weirdly natural vibes. Moans. Groans. And simply spectacular group improv, interaction, and conversation.
Speaking of vibes, Matt Moran on this awkward instrument has a concept and execution I’ve never heard before. Very what I call declamatory, heartfelt yet mysterious, he often sets the table for the amazing sonorities that regularly grace the proceedings.
Ted Reichman on accordian also has a unique concept: anti-virtuoso, integrated, rhythmically supple.
Drew Gress on bass has practically reconfigured his playing concept, making his instrument dance, plod, sing, and declare as appropriate.
Chris Speed, who’s honed his chops in a variety of ethnic Mediterrean/jazz settings, most notable Pachora, here abundantly reaps the huge benefits of thoroughly absorbing an authentic ethnic music and then magically mapping it onto jazz. I’m particularly taken by his tenor sax playing, unlike anything in the history of jazz, yet weirdly inevitable in this adventurous setting.
But it’s the leader on drums who’s primarily responsible for this ravishing sonic brilliance. All compositions are his; thus he’s the mastermind behind this astounding sonic palette, most gloriously revelated in “. . . can you get through this life with a good heart?”—one of the most original and mesmeriznig soundsacpes in the history of recorded music. His free-static drumming here alone is worth the price of admission.
This is the hottest band around, freely morphing between world- jazz, free-bop, a-referential percussive weirdness, and just plain out weirdness although thoroughly accessible.
Really, this is it. These boys have created the first jazz masterpiece of the 21st century. DO NOT MISS IT.