Label: Astral Spirits Records / Instigation Records, 2022
Personnel - Joe McPhee: tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet; Fred Lonberg-Holm: cello; Michael Zerang: percussion.
Recorded at the New Orleans Jazz Museum during the 2018 Instigation Festival, The Art of Flight is Survival Unit III’s tip of the hat to the late drummer Alvin Fielder, who was a charter member of the AACM and Black Arts Music Society. This powerhouse triangular outfit, which first recorded in 2006 (album Don’t Postpone Joy), is fronted by multireedist Joe McPhee and features the Chicagoan rhythm section of cellist Fredrick Lonberg-Holm and drummer Michael Zerang.
The new album comprises five parts, the first of which clocks in at over 13 minutes, slowly building momentum with an impeccable sense of direction. It kicks off with crying cello whines and the incisive pocket trumpet of McPhee, who later switches to tenor sax in order to offer moments of true, sober melody over the brushed patterns of Zerang. The airy tones become denser at a later stage as the trio goes off into improvisational wilds.
“Part 2” places a powerful motif at the center, and the trio sets it ablaze while rubbing around its edges. Likewise, the riff-based “Part 5” has everyone embracing a particular rhythmic figure, remaining in a state of persuasive, asynchronous communication. Sculpted with free jazz mechanisms that include ferocious attacks and indomitable energy, this piece becomes more fervent with the time.
“Part 3” is soulful yet intensely adventurous, with a tenor intro that oozes spiritual and folk meaning. The emotions are at the edge when McPhee growls into the horn, searching for a haunting effect, and then Lonberg-Holm drives his cello with unremitting uniformity in texture. This is all paved with tension-filled percussion, and, subsequently, there’s a more ambiguous passage with cello scrapes and metallic sounds. This is the kind of trio that dives into the music with no fear of the outcome. Their exploration is innate as they stretch into sonic arenas of their own choosing.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Part 1 ► 03 - Part 3 ► 05 - Part 5