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.