Label: RogueArt, 2019
Personnel - Rob Brown: alto sax; Steve Swell: trombone; Chris Lightcap: bass; Chad Taylor: drums.
Since the 80’s, alto saxophonist Rob Brown has been a significant presence in the New York’s avant-garde and free jazz scenes. He made a name for himself as a regular member of William Parker’s In Order to Survive and Quartet, as well as collaborations with virtuosic pianist Matthew Shipp. As a leader, he usually opts for the quartet format, and it’s precisely in the latter context that we can hear him blowing the six self-penned tunes that comprises the new album, From Here to Hear, his third outing on the French RogueArt imprint.
The peculiar tones produced on his alto sax convey a false sense of disjunction, while trombonist Steve Swell, always dynamic and supportive, appears in the frontline as the perfect ally. Both benefit from the spectacular rhythm team of bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Chad Taylor, which provides them the sturdy infrastructures on top of which they create freely and passionately.
The saxophonist guarantees a varied approach from one selection to another, and “Anticipation” kicks off the album with a theme statement delivered in unison, dark bass delineations, stark percussive clarity, and the expansive vocabulary of the horn players. There’s enough surface friction to escape any type of sterility, and “Irascible Angel” displays that fact in its introduction, where written and improvised lines mingle with fine timbral quality prior to a corpulent swinging groove is definitely planted. This expedite motion triggers a bouncing solo from Lightcap and a stirring section where sax and trombone trade licks.
Whereas “Hard Call” boasts another pulse that uncannily swings with an eccentric, pungent touch, another kind of groove, more insouciant and in the verge of a trance, is offered on “Lingering”, a passionate dance in seven, which, despite of its nuclear smoothness, is heavily stimulated by Brown’s growling cries. In contrast, Swell brings more melody into his statement here, just to splatter rapid-lines again on “Strolling and Stumbling”, a piece also marked by the rumbling and thwacking of bass and drums.
In defiance of the discipline proposed by the main themes and structure, the pieces embrace an improvisational spontaneity and freshness throughout. Even operating in particularly calculated environments, as it happens in the grayish closing piece “Cautiously Hopeful”, the group delivers.
Rob Brown remains an artist to watch and this album stresses that his mature music is more exciting than ever.
Grade A-
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Anticipation ► 02 - Irascible Angel ► 04 - Lingering