Smooth FreeJazz

Saxophonist and composer Dave Sewelson is a longstanding member of New York's Downtown scene. Since the 1970s, he has been a noted collaborative partner for dozens of like-minded visionariness including William Parker, Phillip Johnston, Peter Kuhn, and Dave Hofstra. Though he has co-led many dates, the strangely titled Smooth Free Jazz marks only the fourth album to bear his name as a leader. The lineup -- also called the Daves -- includes Bernice "Boom Boom" Brooks on drums, Hofstra on bass, and Mike Neer on lap steel guitar. Sewelson plays baritone sax and sings.
Sewelson defines the contradictory title and sound of this record as "contrasting a smooth center with a fiery edge." His nearly 20-minute reading of the standard "Nature Boy" is a perfect illustration. It's set to the iconic vamp of "Green Onions" from Booker T. & the MG's. Neer adapts the organ sound perfectly on his instrument as Sewelson commences soloing but shifts to deliver the lyrics -- original melody more or less intact -- in a grainy, off-key singing voice. As the shuffling rhythm governs the chart, Sewelson adds muscular fills and growls. When he begins to really travel inside the horn, he adds dissonance, overtones, and even microtones that remain extremely musical. Neer's solo is spacey and expressionistic, flitting between chords and single-string runs before engaging in kinetic interplay with Sewelson. Eventually, they commingle in white-hot improvisation. (There's a three-minute radio edit of the tune tacked onto the end of the album.) "Song Moth" kicks off with Neer and the rhythm section in a bright, lithe, funky shuffle. Sewelson caresses a melody from his horn's lower register, responding directly to the lap steel before edging off into a soulful, resonant solo while Brooks encircles him with breaks and fills. The saxophonist takes it outside, but the grooving rhythm section is unshakeable, particularly Hofstra. "The Moment" merges with a post-bop head before digging into R&B, NOLA style. Though Sewelson's playing flirts with the outer edges, he never goes over the cliff. Hofstra's walking bassline keeps things grooving as Neer vamps the changes and Brooks stays deep in the pocket, urging Sewelson to meet them. When he does, he offers some of his most emotionally resonant playing. "Bill" intersects at several seemingly disparate corners: dubwise reggae, carnival music (thanks in no small part to Brooks' dancing tom-toms), and vintage jazz as it crisscrosses bluesy, spooky melodies from "St. James Infirmary" to "Harlem Nocturne." Neer reflects the guitar stylings of dread experimentalist Cedric "IM" Brooks and reggae jazzman Ernest Ranglin, while Sewelson's playing emerges from the invisible center between baritonist Cecil Payne and Skatalites' tenorist Tommy McCook. It bounces, bubbles and bumps with a sultry, rough-hewn elegance. In sum, Smooth Free Jazz is not so much a provocative listen as an appealing and endearing one. Its quark strangeness and dissonance are balanced with an easy familiarity between players who engage the material with deft musicality. ~ Thom Jurek