Conditions- A Bright Nowhere

Matchless MRCD55

Conditions consists of Nathaniel Catchpole (tenor sax), Jamie Coleman (trumpet), Alex James (piano), John Edwards (bass), and Eddie Prévost (drums). A Bright Nowhere is a freely improvised session in which the ensemble expresses itself in a comparatively large number of ways. We find moments of quietude and meditation interspersed with rollicking "energy" jazz, "modern classical," wet kisses, even the occasional touch of impressionistic piano and whining canine noises. As I've mentioned in other contexts, I sometimes find the addition of a traditionally-played fortepiano passage to, for example, a lengthy passage primarily involving sax multiphonics and trumpet hiss to be intrusive and anachronistic. (I may be a sort of follower of Ornette Coleman in this regard.) This sort of timbral/stylistic "clash" sometimes occurs on A Bright Nowhere, but the results are nevertheless meaty and...again...satisfying...in spite of (or perhaps because of?) of this sylistic or timbral dissonance. Catchpole here seems the most resistant of the five to traditional sound production, often turning in subtly morphing growls and multiphonics even during apparently balladic segments, while the others generally hang somewhere near the middle-Taylor/mature AEC modes of "freedom" (with Edwards, perhaps surprisingly, often occupying the more conservative regions of this spectrum). I believe that Coleman is too closely miked, which can be a bit disconcerting during segments when he is using conventional methods of sound production (which are, generally, louder than hisses) since he occasionally all but drowns out his mates. But his work here is usually quite interesting whatever sort of physics he's employing at the time. Prévost is more aggressive than he is in other contexts but just as intelligent, while James seems to veer toward the delicate arpeggio when left to his own devices. He’s reserved, but not minimal. Catchpole impresses with his contrarian approach to conversation. If they’re busy, he may drone, if they move in legato "riffs," he may comment with pops and explosions. He’s as uncategorizable as Hitchens. Perhaps against odds, the whole, somehow, works amazingly well.

Walter Horn