Groundtruther
have an interesting concept: electric/acoustic drummer
Bobby Previte
and eight-string guitar genius
Charlie Hunter
team up with an invited third member for albums of live
improvisation
. The first album,
Latitude
, was basically a continuation of
Come In Red Dog, This Is Tango Leader
(
Hunter
and
Previte
's first collaboration), with
Greg Osby
on sax adding an additional melodic element. For
Longitude
,
DJ Logic
is the invited guest, and the roles shift considerably. Since
Logic
has a wider sound palette than
Osby
does,
moves away from the
electronic
drums and triggered samples of earlier releases toward a more standard kit as
takes control of the "odd sounds."
assumes more of a lead role without a melodic foil and often applies thick distortion. In fact, you've never heard so much distortion coming out of
's rig, and it sounds fantastic. He also shows that he's a wicked lead player, and not always about sounding like two guys at once.
adds all kinds of interesting sonic flotsam and jetsam, and
really lets loose on a couple tunes. The album basically plays as serious grooves separated by shorter, sometimes
ambient
pieces, but it never gets boring or formulaic. It seems
are just as versatile as they are musical. It will be interesting to see where the music goes when
Altitude
, the third in the trilogy, is released. The
Thirsty Ear
Blue Series
has had a great run of very interesting, very new sounds in
jazz
, and
is another winner. ~ Sean Westergaard