Label: Out of Your Head Records, 2021
Personnel - Christopher Hoffman: cello; Bryan Carrott: vibraphone; Rashaan Carter: bass; Craig Weinrib: drums + guest David Virelles: piano.
The well-versed cellist Christopher Hoffman, known for his valuable contribution to several Henry Threadgill projects, put together a formidable ensemble to nail down his serious compositions on a more jazz-oriented effort called Asp Nimbus.
For this album, Hoffman drew inspiration from Bobby Hutcherson’s albums Oblique (1967) and Happenings (1979) as well as Threadgill’s Everybody’s Mouth a Book (2001). Thus, it’s not really a surprise to see the wonderful vibraphonist Bryan Carrott on board (he played on the latter record) as well as the exciting drummer Craig Weinrib, as he’s also a regular Threadgill pick and a member of Hoffman’s Multifariam group and Silver Cord Quintet. The bass player Rashaan Carter is the only novelty in a quartet that momentarily expands into a quintet on track 2, ”Dylan George”, with an appearance from Cuban pianist David Virelles. The pianist's creative genius incorporates in the versatile dynamics of the four through overdubbing, materializing a state-of-the-art concoction of funk, modal jazz and post-bop written for Hoffman’s late brother.
Before the cited track, the sumptuous “Discretionary” initiates this aural excursion in seven. Scratchy cello articulations reveal a lyrical eloquence, and then it’s Carrott who interlaces melody and chords through an extraordinary mallet work. The group eventually reinforces the primary 7/4 figure in a final vamp that, upon fading out, still leaves Weinrib actively engaged in the business.
If the title track plays like a vague road map, giving you a sense of immobility before jolting playfully, then the suave “Angels of Influence” provides quietly rigorous moves and inflections, yet squeezing out more assurance than fragility. And this is also by virtue of Hoffman and Carter’s soloing capabilities.
An atypical interlocking groove of bass and drums propels “Orb” as if it had no ground, but things change into a well outlined circularity on “Non-Submersible”, a somewhat relaxing call on the modern classical / chamber music hybrid genre.
Assembled with a consistent tidal pull, “The Heights of Spectacle” concludes the record with astute changing meters (from seven to four and back to seven) and aboveground unisons made of pizzicato cello and wafting vibes, revealing the breath of Hoffman’s influences and inspirations.
These inquisitive rhythmic matrixes and irresistible forward momentums derive from the constant exchange between musicians who know each other’s temperaments and intentions, intuitively.
Grade A-
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Discretionary ► 02 - Dylan George ► 08 - The Heights of Spectacle