I recall reading a very negative review of a previous release by this trio. There's always the trap, with someone as long-lived as Mr. Murray, of comparing any new music he's making to what he's done in the past. Bringing expectations to any piece of music will sometimes end in tears, as it were, and while this recording may not have the impact of those Albert Ayler or Cecil Taylor records that Sunny Murray played on, that doesn't mean it should be written off as unworthy of attention. Boom Boom Cat gives us an hour's worth of free playing with plenty to hang the ears on.
The title piece begins with a short Murray solo before Edwards comes crashing in and Bevan starts off singing over the top. His playing throughout is more melodic investigation than sonic explosion, but he has a pleasant tone and sometimes reminds me a bit of early Coltrane. His modus is to state a short melodic fragment and then distort it, elongating, squashing, over-blowing, placing extra notes inside it etc, before slipping into meld mode and fusing with the rhythm section's texture. About 20 minutes into this piece, after another short solo from Murray, Bevan starts up on the soprano while Edwards saws away on one note. He continues throughout to swing back and forth between the more lyrical bits and the hard-edged pushing. The interplay between drums and bass is always "happening" and the music dovetails and then bisects continually. In a later rhythm section duo, Edwards drones while Murray throws out lopsided accents, creating interesting harmonics in the intersection of skin and string. When Bevan comes back in on bass sax, things get even more interesting when he dips really low in pitch and the trio becomes a rolling wave of harmonic mud. I kind of wish he'd stay down there awhile and ride it.
The shorter second piece has Murray on brushes, with that weird slapping sound, almost swinging but then tripping along. For the most part it's a low-key ballad, as the title implies, and keeps sliding between foot tapping beat and abstract feel, serving as a wind down from the previous storm.
Comments and Feedback:
|
