* Reger: Clarinet Quintet, Op.146 (Leister/Drolc Quartett) (DG LP)
* Stravinsky:
Ebony Concerto, etc. (Ens. InterContemporain/Boulez) (DG LP)
* Miles
Davis: Quintet, 1965-‘68 (d.3) (Columbia/Legacy 6CD)
* Grant
Green: The Complete Quartets With Sonny Clark (Blue Note 2CD)
* Gary
Burton/Chick Corea/Pat Metheny/Roy Haynes/Dave Holland: Like Minds (Concord CD)
* Jack
DeJohnette’s Special Edition: Album Album (ECM LP)
* John
Patton: Accent On The Blues (Blue Note CD)
* Lenny
Breau: Five O’Clock Bells (Adelphi LP)
* Steve
Khan: Casa Loco (Antilles LP)
* Mike
Stern: Jigsaw (Atlantic LP)
* Ingrid
Laubrock & Tom Rainey: And Other Desert Towns (Relative Pitch CD)
* Grateful
Dead: Dave’s Picks Vol.10: Thelma, Los Angeles, CA 12/12/69 (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)
* Grateful
Dead: Dave’s Picks 2014 Bonus Disc: Thelma 12/11/69x (GDP/Rhino HDCD)
* Grateful
Dead: Five Seasons Center, Cedar Rapids, IA 1984-07-04 (selections) (SBD 3CDR)
* Pearls
Before Swine: Balaklava (ESP-Disk’ LP)
* The Free
Design: Kites Are Fun (Light In The Attic LP)
* Van
Morrison: No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (Polydor CD)
* King
Crimson: In The Court Of The Crimson King (Inner Knot CD/DVD)
* King
Crimson: In The Wake Of Poseidon (Inner Knot CD/DVD)
* King
Crimson: Lizard (Inner Knot CD/DVD)
* King
Crimson: Islands (Inner Knot CD/DVD)
* The Moody
Blues: In Search Of The Lost Chord (Deram LP)
* Focus:
Moving Waves (Sire LP)
* Jan
Akkerman: Jan Akkerman (Atlantic LP)
* Black
Sabbath: Live Evil (Warner Bros. 2LP)
* Medusa:
Trapeze (Threshold LP)
* Gary
Higgins: Red Hash (Drag City LP)
* Rod
Stewart: Every Picture Tells A Story (Mercury/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* McKendree
Spring: Spring Suite (MCA LP)
* Premiata
Forneria Marconi: Photos Of Ghosts (Manticore LP)
* Van Der
Graaf Generator: The Aerosol Grey Machine (Mercury LP)
* Emerson
Lake & Palmer: Emerson Lake & Palmer (Razor & Tie
2CD+DVD)
* Emerson
Lake & Palmer: Tarkus (Razor & Tie 2CD+DVD)
* Alan
Parsons Project: I Robot (Arista LP)
*
Supertramp: Breakfast In America (A&M/Mobile Fidelity CD)
* Mudcrutch:
Mudcrutch (Reprise 2LP)
* The
Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin (Warner Bros. HDCD)
* Guided By
Voices: Cool Planet (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Circus
Devils: When Machines Attack (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Circus
Devils: My Mind Has Seen The White Trick (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Seefeel:
Polyfusia (Astralwerks CD)
* Seefeel:
Quique (Astralwerks CD)
* Seefeel:
Starethrough Ep (Warp CDEP)
* Megadeth:
Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? (Capitol LP)
* Opeth:
Blackwater Park (Music For Nations/Sony 2LP)
* Opeth:
Deliverance (Music For Nations/Music On Vinyl 2LP)
* Opeth:
Damnation (Music For Nations/Music On Vinyl LP)
* Mastodon:
Leviathan (Relapse LP)
* Children
Of The Mushroom: Hard Times Hangin At The End Of The World (Kemado LP)
†=iPod/iTunes
‡=car
Commentary:
When I think
of saxophone/drums duets in modern jazz, the first album that immediately
springs to mind is John Coltrane’s posthumous masterpiece, Interstellar Space (Impulse!, 1974), with Rashied Ali’s supple polyrhythmic percussion foregrounding
the formal logic and spiritual anguish of Coltrane’s late-period expression.
Then there are also numerous albums led by Anthony Braxton, who brings his
cerebral compositional approach to freely improvised duets with drummers like
Max Roach and Gerry Hemingway. Both approaches, however, tend towards maximum
intensity, be it Coltrane’s high-energy “sheets of sound” or Braxton’s tense,
dissonant and rhythmically complex vocabularies. And both approaches tend to reduce the drummer to a supporting role, with an occasional solo segment
providing a break for the saxophonists.
And Other
Desert Towns, the new CD on Relative Pitch from Ingrid Laubrock and Tom Rainey,
is a refreshing take on the saxophone/drums duet and a worthy successor to
those classic records—and a genuine partnership of equals. Laubrock is
certainly capable of the sort of fire-breathing intensity found in late Coltrane but it is tempered with a Braxtonian compositional approach to free
improvisation and a mastery of extended techniques. Rainey, of course, is one
of the most complete drummers around, playing both inside and outside the pulse
with equal sensitivity. Laubrock and Rainey have not only played together in
numerous ensembles over the years (Sleepthief, Anti-House, Tom Rainey Trio,
etc.), they are also married. Not surprisingly, the interplay of the saxophone
and percussion on And Other Desert Towns is downright telepathic—and immediately
apparent upon first listen.
Eschewing
epic outpourings, the ten tracks on the CD are relatively brief, developing and unfolding over the course of the set like contemporary
chamber music while still remaining rooted in the language and posture of
modern jazz. Starting off quietly, the
album gradually builds momentum, the abstract soundscapes evolving into subtly
swinging ballad forms, out-cat skronking and rock-inflected workouts. No matter how densely packed the music gets, there is always plenty
of space, room for the musicians to breathe—and they can turn on a dime.
Laubrock’s range of saxophone tones is truly astounding: from breathy lyricism
to growling aggression, from limpid beauty to strangled gurgles and piercing
squeals. Meanwhile, Rainey coaxes an orchestra’s worth of sound from his drum
kit and leads the way as much as he follows. But, most importantly, all this
impressive technical brilliance is deployed in the service of a singular expression.
The music flows together so seamlessly that it often sounds more
through-composed than freely improvised—and yet this music could only be born
in the moment of its making. And Other Desert Towns is free improvisation of
the highest order and sure to become a modern jazz classic.
+++
Ingrid
Laubrock and Tom Rainey are currently on a rare tour of the U.S. and will be
here in Nashville on Thursday, May 22 for an all-day celebration of their
music. The duo will host a masterclass/workshop in afternoon at the downtown NashvillePublic Library and perform at “Indeterminacies” at Zeitgeist Gallery at 7:00pm
in the evening. Vanderbilt University professor Robert Fry will present an “Out of the
Lunchbox” talk preceding the workshop and will also be leading the discussion
segment at “Indeterminacies.” This is going to be amazing! All events are FREE
and open to public—so don’t miss it. (Seating is limited for the library
events. Please contact Liz Coleman for reservations: (615) 862-5804 ext.6092.)
