Fractured Dimensions

Space, sound colour, interaction, independence, transparency, and a tremendous sense of propulsion, like a pocket chamber orchestra on the gallop, the band that illuminates these ´Fractured Dimensions´ is a far-reaching one. And a band making a debut, of a sort. The ensemble originally billed to play the Berlin Total Music Meeting in 1999 was the New York quartet known as ´Other Dimensions In Music´, with bassist William Parker, trumpeter Roy Campbell, reedman (and intermittent second trumpeter) Daniel Carter and drummer Rashid Bakr. Bakr´s unavailability led to the fortious last-minute substitution of Alan Silva, the expatriate Bermudan/American bassist-turned-synthesizer player, and a near-total transformation of the group dynamic. Seldom has the old free music axiom ´change one man and you change the music´ been so dramatically demonstrated. New worlds open up - ´other planes of there´ as Sun Ra said - as Silva frames, tints and shades the improvisation with his keyboard colours (subtle pastels, lambent waterclours, luminescent gobs of day-glo), creates a real sense of orchestration-in-action with strings and percussion samples, or hurtles toward the centre of the whirled interplay. At all times his contribution encourages a great clarity in the music, where you can hear every blossoming detail, even at the most delirous speeds.(...) One of his first showings as synthesizer player though has been with THE TRADITION TRIO, with German trombonist Johannes Bauer and British drummer Roger Turner (see a/l/l 004 Tone, The Tradition Trio).

Movement, that´s the thing in these ´Dimensions´, it´s the cascading, coruscating flow of sound that makes this such a refreshing recording. A unique one, actually. What a pleasure to listen to these four men shaping this music in real time, to hear the Parker/Campbell/Carter axis fielding every sound that Silva tosses at them, the sheer alertness on all fronts. Roy Campbell and Daniel Carter seem to be reading each other´s minds for much of the distance, in tune in all meanings of the term, while their tesselated horn lines are swept along by William Parker´s sheer driving power. Parker´s talked, in the past, of the bass as ersatz drum kit: "The G string I looked at as a ride cymbal, my D string as a snare. My low E string I looked at as a gong, and my A string I looked at as a bass drum."

Rhythm waves and patterns are just some of the functions the Parker bass fulfils here, and these are functions that overlap with Silva´s. The music is powered by two bass players; one jst appears to be a synthesize player for the duration. In truth, though, all four of these mighty musicians are dealing with rhythm and with melody in the dancing, joyful improvised chamber music of ´Fractured Dimensions´.
Steve Lake