When, way back in November 1978, a trio of twenty-somethings, bassist Mark Helias, drummer Gerry Hemingway and trombonist Ray Anderson all at the beginnings of long and esteemed careers, convened in a New Haven studio (during a period when the Connecticut city was a hotbed of avant garde jazz) to record Oahspe, they could hardly have imagined the partnership continuing for another 45 years and counting.
That debut, made a year after the band had formed, the second release on Hemingway’s Auricle imprint, was listed under the participants’ names. For its most recent session Afternoon, the group much better known as BassDrumBone again finds a home on Auricle after two other earlier dates, 1987-97’s Cooked To Perfection and 2013-16’s The Long Road.
The personal and musical affection these three have for one another is evident, as they return from their various other projects and jobs to continue a decades-long conversation. As befits the collective nature of the group, Afternoon — recorded in a single July 2023 session, presumably in the titular part of the day — is comprised of three improvisations, “Afternoon Begins”, “Afternoon Continues” and “Afternoon Ends”, broken up by new compositions from each member.
The extemporaneous pieces are fluid and declamatory, the first playing with tempo, the second atmospheric and moody and third most textural and abstract. These contrast beautifully/intentionally with the compositions, whether Hemingway’s slinky “Ain’t Nuttin Butta”, Helias’ limpid “Shone Eyes” or Anderson’s stridently martial “Bright Wabash”.
A listening session of Afternoon paired with Oahspe shows how that young sapling — with attention, time and good fortune — could have grown taller over the years, more imposing, deepening its roots, yet still budding with new leaves and reaching towards the sunlight.
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