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Cruxes
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| Vocalist Josephson and bassist Smith have been contributors to a strong free musicscene in the San Francisco Bay Area. Smith's Balance Point Acoustics label has been issuing recordings that document their intriguing collaborations. For this set, the two are joined by German drummer Martin Blume (who collaborated with these musicians on 2003's Zero Plus) and French bassist Joelle Leandre. Although this is an ad-hoc group, they obviously speak the same language, the results making this an excellent recording of conversational free Jazz. The instrumentation of voice, two low string instruments and percussion assures that this grouping will have a unique sound. It achieves its ultimate expression on the final studio track, Praxis, where both basses are sliding buoyantly over and around each other as Josephson acrobatically leaps atop the lines and Blume provides a chattering accompaniment. Although the majority of these tracks feature full group improvisation, several tracks feature brief duets and trios from the group. The deep sound of the strings of Leandre and Smith put Josephson's vocals in stark relief on Siberia Of The Mind. Josephson and Blume duet on Napoleon's Favorite Wine with each focusing on small gestures that become larger and end in a grand gesture. It's one of the best free improvs I've ever heard that lasts under two minutes. More importantly, it doesn't feel like a fragment but a complete statement. The live tracks are longer and have a more leisurely pace. But only the 20 minute final track seems a bit overlong. And while it has a few brief dead spots, after a bit of meandering the four find common ground and the music takes off again. Besides, this track has some of the most compelling music of the set, most notably when Leandre and Smith play an arco drone in accompaniment to Josephson's stratospheric flight. Cruxes is yet another example of the fertile music that's been brewing in the Bay Area for a number of years now. - Robert Iannapollo, Cadence Magazine |
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ARTISTS
Aurora Josephson (voice); Joelle Leandre, Damon Smith (double bass); Martin Blume (percussion) |
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