"Moods: Playing with the Elements," from Trio-X and CIMP is an odd duck, a free jazz CD that's quiet (I can barely hear it in some places) and melodic but still a vehicle for flights of improvisation by Joe McPhee, who plays tenor sax, flugelhorn and pocket trumpet, bassist Dominic Duval and drummer Jay Rosen.
Their version of "Stella by Starlight" is the perfect example of what I'm talking about. A jazz fan who preferred conventional playing would easily recognize the standard in some sections, and probably be impressed by the musicianship, while a free jazz fan would likely get a kick out of the trio's improvising off the song, which takes it in a number of creative but logical directions. A fan of both, like me, is in hog heaven. The rest of the disk is equally interesting and, although the moods it does a good job evoking aren't what you would call uproarious, I don't see it becoming boring through plenty of listens.
No comments:
Post a Comment