Monday, August 29, 2005

Sound advice

"Sound," Roscoe Mitchell's Delmark label free jazz opus from 1966, which I purchased recently and gave its second listen the other day, is truth in advertising exemplified. What you get are instrumental sound explorations in an avant-garde jazz context by Mitchell on alto sax, clarinet, recorder and more; Lester Bowie on trumpet, flugelhorn and harmonica; and bassist Malachi Favors, who would join them in the groundbreaking Art Ensemble of Chicago; plus trombone, cello, tenor sax and drums.

The title track lasts 26 minutes and a reprise to end the disk 19. The amount of sonic stuff piled on in those 45 minutes is staggering. They make their instruments sound like everything from bagpipes to a baby's cries. I can barely take the mental stimulation involved in listening to it without needing to stop and rest my hyper-firing synapses. This is not about catchy tunes. If it sticks in your head, you've got one weird brain. You sure as heck won't be dancing to it. It's all about texture, color, placement, space. Think aural Picasso, and sometimes Dali. An essential disk if you're a free jazz fan.

No comments: