Willy Rodriguez (drums); Leo Genovese (piano, Hammond organ);
Ingrid Laubrock (tenor saxophone); Allan Harris (spoken word)
This is an album of three heavyweights providing all the punches. For Rodriguez it’s a deeply passionate project dealing with grief following the death of his mother and, in recruiting Genovese and Laubrock he has partners fully able to supply all the emotional heft and fury needed to fully illustrate his emotions. The Rodriguez role in this, as well as delivering a solid performance on drums that provides the foundation for all that is built above, is to marshal Genovese and Laubrock, at times providing a framework for their playing and at others allowing them freedom to build whatever they feel the music needs. As you might imagine, this is not easy listening. Instead it is intense, demanding and outstanding as a statement of desperation and loss.
It is not necessary,
however, to understand the music purely through the prism of the loss that
inspired it. Difficult to do, I realise when confronted with the howling into
the void tone of opener In the Unknown (I
Will Find You), but there are benefits
to taking a deconstructionist approach and listening carefully to what each
player’s contribution as it winds its way through each track. In this way the
structure of the pieces becomes apparent and you see how each player supports
the other, adding shape to apparently free flights, or how one musician’s
efforts provides a springboard for another’s escape.
Laubrock, in particular
shines. Perhaps by having the most prominent voice, a power she does not abuse,
means that her muscular playing is front and centre whenever she steps up to
the mic, even when the others are playing. By contrast, Genovese is more
melodic. His introduction to A Room Full
of Confusion mixes exploratory delicacy with fluid runs underpinned by,
seemingly random, heavy isolated chords. Laubrock deepens the mood with mournful
wailing sax and turns it into a mellow, but still free contemplation of loss.
Rodriguez adds some explosive driving percussion.
The album takes a turn
into experimental ambience for Where I
Saw You Last as plucked piano strings lead us in and then fade away leaving
random flutterings interspersed with occasional distant notes; (The Route) comes as a return to the
‘normality’ of the earlier pieces. Effectively a duet between piano and sax
exchanging lines and taking it in turns to prod the other on; Rodriguez adds
splashes of colour. Closer, Follow The
Light, is a solo for Genovese on the organ and owes more to Bach than Basin
Street; grandiose and full of flourishes, it is, nevertheless, held down by an
ominous drone adding emotional weight.
I like this album a lot. The three involved really exploit the space that having no bassist allows, everything seems pushed to the edge without that anchor in the centre. It’s intense, listening music for both the band and those of us sat at home with the headphones on. Dave Sayer
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