Label: Not Two Records, 2020

Personnel - Gebhard Ullmann: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Michael Jefry Stevens: piano; Joe Fonda: acoustic bass; Dieter Ulrich: drums.

Working together for 20 years, Conference Call is one of those quartets where you can’t go wrong when searching for music. Championing a formidable avant-garde jazz, the group of pianist Michael Jefry Stevens, saxophonist Gebhard Ullmann and bassist Joe Fonda, welcomes a new partner for this record, with the Swiss drummer Dieter Ulrich sitting in the chair that once belonged to Matt Wilson, Han Bennink, George Schuller and Gerry Hemingway. With the exception of Ulrich, all the musicians contribute compositions to Prism, the ensemble’s 10th release, in which they fruitfully flaunt explorative methodologies.

The album opens and closes with Ullmann’s compositions taken from his 2019 album mikroPULS (Intuition, 2019). Although divergent in nature, both have the saxophonist showing off his oblique storytelling with a tart tone. The opener “F.J.D.” is a dedication to Eddie Harris’ smashing hit “Freedom Jazz Dance” that navigates odd tempos. The genius pairing of Ullmann and Stevens is on display in the first minutes, prior to an off-kilter dance already with bass and drums involved, where the saxophonist steps the borders of tonality. Benefitting from a good support by Fonda, Ulrich lays down a synergistic rhythm with moderate whirlwind procedures and syncopation, infusing timely cymbal crashes whenever the flux is broken. The closer, “Zeit Lupe”, is an unconventional ballad dedicated to the amazing saxophonist Charles Lloyd. Also penned by Ullmann, who wields the bass clarinet here, “Variations on a Master Plan (Pt.2)” comes with enigmatic inscriptions on it, even if it's more pensive and frayed on the edges.

The bass clarinet also plays a role in Fonda’s “The Bee”, a number built with a stationary quality but denoting an excitable temperament. Yet, it was the other composition by the bassist, “Listen to Dr. Cornel West”, a dedication to the provocative democrat mentioned in the title, that trapped me completely in its mercurial sequences. This piece had been recorded twice in 2015 and 2019 by the Nu Band and OGJB quartet, respectively. Here, it kicks off with bass and drums at the center, creating an impressionistic underpinning on top of which angular saxophone interjections and fierce piano chords take place. On its following passage, the group nails the balance between the dreamy and the cacophonous and past towards the middle of the tune, Fonda’s brisk legato leads to a magnetic Latin-flavored groove. After that, it's time for conspicuous call-and-response episodes between sax and piano.

Introduced by Stevens’ sensitive pianism, “Prism” is a lush, gently brushed waltzing ballad, while “Sal’s Song”, a wondrous blues that he also composed, boasts rubato freedom and a thrusting pulse underlining nice lilting moments.

Carefully dosing abstraction and clarity in their virtuosic playing, Conference Call can easily play in a quiet, intimate way or stretch a tune into a maximum range of tension.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - F.J.D. ► 03 - Listen to Dr. Cornel West ► 05 - Sal’s Song