The Good and Evil Sessions
are the first in
Thirsty Ear
's Blue Series Continuum, which emphasizes diverse styles of music with a rotating, leaderless cast of musicians. This one melds
Danny Blume
and
Chris Kelly
of
Good and Evil
fame with turntable maven
Miso
and some of the heavy-hitters from the
avant-garde jazz
world, including bassist
William Parker
, pianist
Matthew Shipp
, and trumpeter
Roy Campbell
. The results are unpredictable and deliciously sassy, with groove-based throbs,
jazz
beats, and turntable scratches setting the stage for down-in-the-bucket solos that purr with joyous abandon.
Free improv
meets
punk
and dance rhythms laced with foot-tapping, body-swaying pulses. While the
pop
inflections are certain to spark a debate within the tiny but intense and vocal
free jazz
community over the commercialization of art, the generally uncompromising
improvisations
of the
Shipp
/
Parker
contingent stand up reasonably well even if somewhat less-intense and complex than usual. This sort of crossover
fusion
could widen the appeal of these otherwise relatively obscure though extremely talented performers.
is in superb form, spinning webs of simple (though never simplistic) phrases, veiled by supple nuance.
's scratches are a constant, subversive presence, while the
Blume
-
Kelly
guitar duo keeps the hips shaking and the trombone twosome of
Alex Lodico
Josh Roseman
adds a raunchy bottom.
's fading repetitions on
"On the Run"
are lovingly distorted through the filter of the
lens. ~ Steven Loewy