Label: Circular Fire Records, 2022
Personnel - Chet Doxas: reeds; Michael Formanek: bass; Vinnie Sperrazza: drums.
The super creative bassist Michael Formanek has a brand new trio with the saxophonist Chet Doxas and the drummer Vinnie Sperrazza, and their musical personalities gel with excellent results on Were We Where We Were, the group’s auspicious and compellingly assembled debut. The Drome Trio gained consistency with regular sessions in the bassist’s Brooklyn backyard during the 2020 lockdown, after which he started to devise graphic scores to be played forwards and then backwards. This type of approach creates palindromes (extensive to the titles) when transcribed to conventional music notation.
The tripped-out highlight “Tattarrattat” spins out for 26 minutes. It doesn’t cut right through but slowly builds something that sticks with you afterwards. Before anything else, we have soprano lines delineated with curves, bends and zigzagging trajectories. Bass and drums stealthily join, sculpting and painting with no discernible figure in mind (except for a snare ‘tattarrattat’) until Doxas circulates melodic ideas that end up in an eloquent, open-toned solo netted by rock-powered muscularity. Cymbal color becomes a recurrent element during Formanek's affirmative bass statement, which, reversing the process, points out the way to the sole soprano from where all had started. Doxas’ second solo is even more accented with wide intervals and fragmentation recalling Henry Threadgill's type of language.
If this is the most exciting piece on the album in terms of energy, the one that follows, “Never Odd or Even”, is the most beautifully designed. Introduced by Formanek's syncopated pizzicato signature, this number carries an Eastern feel that emphasizes the spiritual rather than the material. Spellbinding tenor chants, deep arco bass, and understated drumming converge into a calibrated Braxton-esque section with a strong underpinning. The recording closes off with the aptly titled “Is It What It Is”, a charismatic moment of hard swinging handoff. This is an engrossing piece of work with an organized structure and inspired rhythmic developments.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Tattarrattat ► 02 - Never Odd or Even