This live show from December of 1997 with the truly acrobatic
Other Dimensions in Music group with
Matthew Shipp guesting is American improvisational jazz at its best. The sheer musicality inherent in the band's front line of
Daniel Carter and
Roy Campbell, Jr. is so multidimensional it puts the European "tonal explorers" to shame. Make no mistake -- this is a jazz band. That everything they do is improvisation burns down the false wall imposed the English and the Europeans that freely improvised music could be somehow separated by genres and continents. One listen to this group and you'll see that both
Franz Koglmann and
Evan Parker are just plain wrong. Traditions are not exercised here, they may be referred to in passing -- they may even be revered by individual participants -- but their practice has no place within the quintet's performance. Already
Shipp was a powerhouse, moving out from under the shadow of
Cecil Taylor and into his own light full of tonal and harmonic ideas that crisscrossed the musical spectrum seeking release in a larger group setting.
Carter and
Campbell have developed a front-line language between them, whether on reeds or brass or winds. When one speaks, the other speaks in tandem.
Carter is especially gifted when it comes to producing microphonics on his saxophones or the flute offering multilevel platforms for either
Campbell or
Parker to launch from with
Shipp covering all the middle space with outrageous shapes and colors.
Campbell smatters his lines over the edges. Taking the lead, he only finds himself in deep dialogue with
Parker, who calls up the all-pervasive spirit of eternal rhythm from Baker. Melodic invention tattoos invertible modalities and overtonal currents in the exchanges between
Shipp and
Carter.
Parker keeps raising the bar to include angular polyrhythms and bassed-out harmonic ideas from
Campbell Jr. and himself. When the swinging post-mod boplicity of
Ornette Coleman's voice winds its way through the fifth section, it becomes the hinge for a new exploration in texture and changing time signatures as the pace becomes all but impossible to keep. All too quickly the music ends, giving itself over to the same place in silence it emerged from. For the listener, 66 minutes is all too brief a period to be engulfed in this ecstatic world of discovery and challenge. You're left wanting more, and all you have to do is hit play again to be immersed once more. ~ Thom Jurek