Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 04/02/2002
Tom Varner's second
OmniTone disc is a tribute to one of his chief role models,
Don Cherry. In addition to four originals inspired by
Cherry,
Varner includes a captivating, full-length update of the
"Complete Communion" suite from 1965 as well as a slightly sped-up
"Elephantasy" (part one only) and an imaginative take of
"Cherryco" from the album
The Avant-Garde. (For another reworking of
"Complete Communion," see
the DKV Trio's
Live in Wels & Chicago, 1998.)
Varner's misfit of a
jazz instrument -- the French horn -- seems fitting given that
Cherry played cornet, not trumpet, on the original version. As if to capture some of that authentic flavor,
Dave Ballou plays brilliant cornet on three cuts; guitarist
Pete McCann's snarling guitar pyrotechnics add a thoroughly modern dimension to the reimagined suite and the epic
"Don's Big View." Tony Malaby's muscular tenor sax captures the raw energy of
Gato Barbieri without sacrificing originality. Bassist
Cameron Brown, who actually played
"Complete Communion" with
Don Cherry on a number of occasions, brings an indispensable fund of lived experience to the project. And few drummers are closer in spirit to
Ed Blackwell than
Matt Wilson, who plays the hand percussion textures on the
"Remembrance" portion of the suite with uncanny accuracy, achieves a similar effect toward the end of
Varner's meditative
"Leaving Malaga," and breaks into spirited
funk to wind down
"Don's Big View." He also adds sensitive flourishes on the closing
"Don's Hymn," a haunting one-and-a-half-minute piece for unaccompanied French horn. Just before the track ends,
Varner emits a single, definitive rasp through the tangled coils of his horn, signing off with the sound of his life's breath.
~David R. Adler, All Music Guide
;)
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