Anthony Shadduck Quartet – Debut

Sounds Are Active 1144

Bassist Anthony Shadduck calls in the services of a heavyweight colleague on Debut, his promising first entry as leader. Guitarist Nels Cline carries a tall stack of credentials, both for his higher profile “alt rock” gigs under the aegises of Mike Watt and Wilco and for his own myriad improv-oriented projects. The other two slots in Shadduck’s ensemble are filled by names unfamiliar to me. Scarce on details, the disc’s packaging does contain several attractive pastel drawings by artist Tom Steck. Google makes access to information on clarinetist Lynn Johnston’s resume with The Red Krayola and Adam Lane and drummer Ches Smith’s past work with John Zorn and Marc Ribot a snap. Cline is an assertive presence across the album’s five tracks and he brings in an array of effects pedals and peripheral electronics to the proceedings. Amplification and strong rock elements figure prominently into the music and the album has a proggish feel similar to some of Cline’s projects for Crytpogramphone. Dynamic fluctuations from stentorian to soft, so common to this style of improv, also factor in, but Shadduck varies the framework with some fresh facades and close attention to the spatial relationships of the instruments.

For the heated freebop of “Half & Half & Half”, Cline bounces between flanging fireworks to a leaner single-note picking style, the band following his lead from ear-lacerating cacophony into a more measured jazz sprint. Shadduck anchors with an adroit pizzicato, shadowing Cline or moving to the forefront with equal facility. His close communication with Smith ensures that even the more pugilistic passages retain a streamlined stability. Echoing the inherent pastoralism of its title, “The Girl with the Sky Blue Tears” exhibits the foursome softer side, Cline shaving off shimmering chords and Smith retaining a degree of serration through bowed cymbal accents as the mood turns more ominous. “Mr. Limo’s Sad News” carves out additional room for slashing and thrashing, Cline’s barbed distortion ripping holes in the cascading rhythm set up by Smith as Johnston blows another gasket via moistened reed. A retreat into less explosive expression reserves space for a slow build to a penultimate conflagration and drone-based, feedback-laced finish. “Syrofoam Audience” wraps the set with a tone poem ribbon and concludes with a shred of studio chatter that reveals the more jocose side of the band. Though little more than an EP in length, Shadduck’s well-structured effort successfully primes the ears for more.

~ Derek Taylor