When I first saw the fight card for this one, my pupils immediately dilated with anticipatory pleasure, a fanciful emcee announcing: "In this corner, weighing in at a wiry 160 pounds, the San Francisco contrabass cyclone, Adam Lane…" through an imaginary ring mic in my head. A Sweet Science metaphor may seem trite, but these four are more than capable of clocking K.O.'s in the context of a freebop bout. Vandermark is probably the most disadvantaged in terms of bare-knuckle chops, but his composerly composure helps him keep his cool when his colleagues are punching from a superior weight class. Of course, it’s also an asset having the muscle of baritone and bass clarinet behind your swing. Lane's been catalytic force on every one of the dozen-plus albums I've heard him on, rescuing some from potential mediocrity and keeping fast company on others. Nilssen-Love and Broo represent the Euro purse, their most famous common ground as coming as the engine room and nuclear brass punch behind the Scandinavian ensemble Atomic. The Thing, for which N-L also supplies strongman sticks, is another kindred energy ensemble to this ad hoc crew.
Lane and Vandermark divide the compositional spoils for this bar gig; the latter's pieces carrying their customary dedicatory tags, this time to Cubist painter George Braque and trumpeters Lester Bowie and Bobby Bradford. The emphasis is rightfully on aggressive blowing, but Vandermark's opening vehicle sets a vexing precedent, relegating an amplified Lane to a pummeling hard rock ostinato. For a player of Lane's harmonic prowess and nuance it's a needlessly confining role, one that he mines to better effect on his own metal jazz opus “Ashcan Rantings” later in the program. Nilssen-Love is also ill served by some of the more regimented structures, his mutable rhythms and pulse play better suited to more capacious surroundings of the ballad “Lucia”. Broo establishes himself early as the frontrunner soloist in the frontline, firing off brazen volleys of notes and shaping solos that recall Dennis Gonzalez in terms of melodic acuity. Each man brings his A-game from his respective corner and despite a few minor hiccups in content and fidelity, the results make good on the promise of the heavyweight match-up.
~ Derek Taylor
Posted by derek on April 18, 2007 3:16 PMI pretty much agree with your review. Unfortunately for us, Adam is in NYC now, he is definitely missed in the Bay Area. He did a lot of great projects here.
Posted by: Damon Smith at April 22, 2007 9:51 AMcan't stop the free jazz...
Posted by: free ropes at April 22, 2007 2:53 PMWanna do some DVD exchange, Derek? Boxing fights, I mean...
Derek, nice review. I'll check it out.
Hey, did you receive the Tsahar cdr's I sent you awhile back? (2 by Digital Primitives & one duo).
I haven't seen you around jazz corner.
Don (jazzfiend)
Posted by: Don Hoffman at April 23, 2007 11:10 AMM, I’m actually not that much of a boxing fan. I think Don “Dollar Sign” King & his ilk ruined it as any semblance of a sport. Some of those old Ali fights are pretty galvanizing though.
Don, sorry for the silence. I’m coping with a vexing laptop debacle and my computer access has been sporadic at best. I did get the discs & have been digging them muchly. I plan to return the favor soon. Thanks for your patience & understanding. What’s been going down at JC? Is the reviews section still a ghost town?
Posted by: derek at April 24, 2007 5:42 AMDamon, unrelated to this thread, other than tangentially through Lane, but I’m looking forward to reading your opinion on the upcoming Mingus Sextet @ Cornell set. A copy showed up in yesterday’s mail & I’ve slowly been drinking it in.
Posted by: derek at April 24, 2007 5:47 AM"What’s been going down at JC? Is the reviews section still a ghost town?"
I'm doing my best goddammit!! Actually I was ready to type one in on the Michael Dessen disc yet there's some sort of snafu getting to the site. Unless Lois finally said to hell with everything.
Posted by: Captain Hate at April 24, 2007 4:45 PMHey, post it to Bags! The Dessen disc is really good stuff & I get the impression few people have heard it....
Posted by: nd at April 24, 2007 6:25 PMI tried to get logged on but it's been so long since I reviewed anything here that I may have been kicked or just forgot my logon id and/or password. I sent Derek an email soooo.......
Posted by: Captain Hate at April 24, 2007 7:10 PMDerek, so sorry to hear of your stressful computer problems. I've been thru some of that myself. Hope they are rectified for U soon.
Yeah, the music area at JC has been a ghost town.
So we need your presence for any semblance of normality at the site. Besides, you're still my fave jazz writer, so don't be a stranger.
Thanks for the kind offer re discs. I haven't heard any of those mentioned, and look forward to some new & exciting sounds.
Thanks again,
Don
Posted by: Don Hoffman at April 24, 2007 7:42 PMDerek, let me know if I can burn anything else for U also.
Don
Posted by: Don Hoffman at April 24, 2007 7:47 PMThanks for the very kind words, Don. I'll put that package in the post just as soon as the geeks @ Geek Squad give my temperamental machine the clean bill of health.
The good Cap'n just got his Bags badge polished up & reinstated so expect some pugnacious prose from him soon.
Posted by: derek at April 26, 2007 6:26 AMI was only half-feeling this one. What's up with the fuzz bass?
You know, I dig The Thing and Bridge 61, but I am getting a bit tired of these "rock" tunes that Vandermark keeps doing. They all sound the same to me. And yah, I know he's been on this kick to varying degrees since the mid-90s... thought he might've got some new ideas qua "fusion" since then.
Posted by: clifford at May 5, 2007 11:32 AMHello Derek,
i'm an owner of small israeli label Auris Media.
i like your reviews very much and would like you to review some of our releases.
please check out these titles:
Slava Ganelin & Vladimir Volkov - "Ne Slyshno" CD (aum012)
http://www.aurismedia.com/records/aum012.php
Slava Ganelin / Ned Rothenberg - "Falling into Place - Live in Jaffa " CD
(aum007)
http://www.aurismedia.com/records/aum007.php
Ganelin Trio Priority - "Live in Germany" CD (aum005)
http://www.aurismedia.com/records/aum005.php
Ganelin Trio - "Eight Reflections Of The Past Century" CD (aum002)
http://www.aurismedia.com/records/aum002.php
let me know if you would like to receive promo CDs for review consideration.
thanks a lot,
victor
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