Right Hemisphere - Right Hemisphere

RogueArt

Familiar to most fans of free jazz, these four musicians have been friends and colleagues for over two decades. That depth of association makes this session something of a reunion though the creative synergy between them has hardly grown stale since their initial collaborations. Shipp and Brown recorded Sonic Explorations together for Cadence back in ’87, having hit the New York scene several years prior. Dickey joined the circle with Shipp’s Points for Silkheart in ’90. Dates for Homestead, AUM Fidelity and other labels followed with the four men matching up and breaking off in various aggregations. Oddly enough though, this disc is the first where they have recorded as a quartet.

The music has indelible roots in earlier encounters, but the players have matured as well. Morris handles bass and it’s both invigorating and enlightening to hear him interact with Shipp and Dickey in that capacity rather than on guitar. Over the years, Dickey spent several hiatuses honing his compositional skills. That personal productivity pays off here with his usual power and vitality present, but enhanced by an attention to detail and shading not always fully present on past efforts. Shipp’s approach comes across as less constrictive too, his hands gliding across the keys and generating precision pedal-weighted patterns both forceful and lyrical. Of the four, Brown sounds the least altered by age and ensuing experience, his tart alto voicing in reliably adroit leaps and dives, from pinched nasalized cries to soothing legato sighs.

Aiding in the program’s listenability are the track lengths, which largely remain lean and to the point. Two lengthier excursions are reserved for the album’s final stretch. Three out of the eleven pieces explore trio configurations with either piano or alto backed by bass and drums. “The Sweet Science” naturally features Shipp solo, but its brevity makes it little more than a loose passel of ideas. In addition to commentary by Steve Dalachinsky, the notes contain written reflections from the players, though Morris is conspicuously absent. The words offer a refreshing corollary to the sounds, suggesting that even with twenty-odd years of projects in the can these four are far from finished making stimulating music together. This particular branch of free jazz sometimes draws derision for purported derivation. However one comes down on that contentious debate, it’s hard to dismiss these players’ skills and deserved standing within the idiom.

~ Derek Taylor