Label: Mahakala Music , 2021
Personnel - Chad Fowler: alto sax; Marc Franklin: trumpet; Kelley Hurt: vocals; Christopher Parker: piano; William Parker: double bass; Brian Blade: drums.
The Bond marks the return of Dopolarians, a sextet of avant-gardists and free musical explorers composed of alto saxophonist Chad Fowler, trumpeter Marc Franklin (subbing for the tenor player Kidd Jordan), vocalist Kelley Hurt, pianist Christopher Parker, bassist William Parker and drummer Brian Blade (replacing the late Alvin Fielder). The ensemble remains faithful to the essence of improvisation, responding to particular situations with their musical intuition and ability to speak up through their respective instruments.
The title track is a 20-minute journey that mixes spiritual dimensions and southern blues roots right at the beginning. The occasion allows us to appreciate the rich harmonic progressions on the piano, which are followed by trumpet and saxophone expansions with a predilection for higher pitches. Parker, the bassist, bounces things up with an odd, hopping groove that provides a functional framework for Fowler’s silver-tongued improvisation. He is accompanied by Blade’s thunderous bombardment of highly sculptural drum sounds. The drummer, who is rarely seen in this avant-jazz context, is a great addition to the group, employing all his known sensitivity to deal with the volatile atmospheres. The bass solo lies on dreamy piano, also enjoying leisurely adornments from the horns and Hurt’s exploratory vocalise, which soon claims the attention while the other instruments surround it.
“The Emergence” kicks off as a densely webbed, frenzy romp with spiky horn peaks and rhythmic fragmentation. Then, it moves through a prolonged reflection that could be a bit of an endurance ride for the listeners, before returning to the dynamics that nimbly expand and contract, burning everything around.
The album closes with the stunning “The Release”, whose ethereal beauty relies on modal embodiment and spiritual enlightenment, recalling Pharaoh Sanders and Alice Coltrane in their unchained abandon.
Although not as strong as the Dopolarians’ 2019 debut (Garden Party), The Bond creates some frisson while leading us to an extraordinary finale.
Grade B
Favorite Tracks:
01 - The Bond ► 03 - The Release