Here's a recording that is just as much of a mouthful as it is an
earful. The title refers to the fear of the number 13, something that
appears not to apply to the trumpeter, composer and leader of this
L.A.-based 18-piece band (which, incidentally, should have been called
"OkTodektet," so as to be more etymologically correct). Over a total
running time of 4,593 seconds, which works out to one hour 13 minutes
and 13 seconds (at least according to the timing at the back of the
wafer thin cardboard pack, though it is actually two seconds more),
this somewhat unewieldy musical beast plows through, you guessed it, 13
pieces bearing such wordy titles like "The Curate's folly Betwixt
them," "The Accusing Spirit which flew up to heaven's chancery," "A
thousand of my father's most subtle syllogisms" and other similar
sesquipedelian designations. In strictly musical terms, this band is
reminiscent of Vinny Golia's even larger ensemble, and the
multi-instrumentalist himself is also part of this venture and
presumably featured on his many horns throughout (although there are no
credits given to individual soloists on any of the tracks.) The disc
was recorded in a live setting rather than a recording studio. Of
course, the costs involved in properly miking all of this would cost a
fancy penny, so what we get here is a distant and echoey mix which gets
terribly muddled when the orchestral activity peaks, though solo voices
are never lost in the proceedings. With only slight breaks between
cuts, or sometimes none at all, the band sets out on a long
uninterrupted journey. After a most unexpected opening fanfare, the
music soon dissolves into a series of individual and collective solos
in between a number of written passages, one of these even sounding
like a take-off on Anthony Braxton's Ghost Trance Music. In our
fast-paced times, in which people are constantly bombarded by all sorts
of stimuli and where attention spans seem to grow increasingly shorter,
a sprawling music like this one can be viewed as going against the
grain; but however raw or imperfect these kinds of statements may be,
they are certainly needed. Still. for the next recording, it would be
nice for those responsible to improve the recording quality; not only
will the value of the music be greatly enhanced, but so will the
listening pleasure.
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