Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 02/07/2006
This collaboration between drummer, pianist, and composer
Jack DeJohnette and guitarist
Bill Frisell, was recorded live at the
Earshot Festival in 2001. But it doesn't end there. The pair, who had only played together once before on
Don Byron's
Romance with the Unseen, had a chance to listen to the tapes together and decided to add some additional production to the tracks.
DeJohnette called in sound engineer
Ben Surman, who added "additional production": basslines,
ambient sounds, and other electronics and percussion. If you are raising your eyebrows in doubt, think again. One listen to the title track that opens the album should convince you otherwise. Here, a simple
blues-like figure becomes a riff that the pair build upon, turn inside out, and make into a labyrinthine journey.
Surman's added basslines root the proceedings deeper into the groove. His
ambient and
electronic sounds are far from distracting. They are more painterly, unobtrusive and yet colorful.
Frisell and
DeJohnette are such fine listeners and intuitive players that they anticipate one another without ever going over the line that makes
free improvisation wankery. The art of the duo comes down to one concept ultimately, and that is true collaboration; musically the pair travel someplace different from where they began.
Surman's added touch is a grounding exercise for the listener. And it's true it might have been a different recording if it had only been heard as an un-retouched performance. But in a sense, it is. It's here, mistakes and all, and it's far from covered. It's merely colored a bit. The
electronic percussion that leads off
"Entranced Androids" is actually coming from
Frisell's guitar. Its seven-and-a-half minutes are a strange and terrible wonder of musical language pushed to the edge.
DeJohnette's rim-shot percussion keeps it somehow grounded, but he's traveling, too --
Surman's post-production work brings out the true weirdness of
Frisell's riffing. There are some truly, outrageously
out moments here, too, in the brief
"Cat and Mouse," "Otherworldly Dervishes," where
Frisell plays a free-music banjo, and the sheer soundscape weirdness that is
"Through the Warphole" are examples. They seem to be every other track. The edgy
funk on
"Storm Clouds and Mist," touches on
blues,
jazz,
rock and deep
funk.
Frisell's response other rhythms being offered him are tough, lean, and fluid. The
dub effects by
Surman are tasty.
DeJohnette plays piano on
"Cartune Riots," and
Frisell stays all but hidden until halfway through the cut.
DeJohnette's pianism is lyrical, quirky, and deeply rooted in the lower-middle register. The duo really cut loose on
"Ode to South Africa," which has
Frisell quoting
Dudu Pukwana,
Johnny Dyani, and
Abdullah Ibrahim, as
DeJohnette's drumming rolls around in stretched time.
Surman's added touch of vocals and regional percussion instruments makes the cut sing. The set ends with a reading of
John Coltrane's
"After the Rain," with
DeJohnette once again on piano. Its balladic structure is preserved, and the space and silence that enter between the lyric phrases allow for
Frisell and his digital delay to shape, color, and texturize its gorgeous melody. This is one of those records for the fan who has to have everything, but that said; it is thoroughly enjoyable on its own merit. Highly recommended.
~Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
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