Best jazz guitar trio record of 2005
Troy Collins | Lancaster, PA United States | 12/09/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Following their debut album, "Beijing," with "Dachau," guitarist Michael Musillami's second recording with his touring trio once again finds inspiration in locale. Named in honor of their most explosive night of improvising on a recent tour, "Dachau" ushered in a sea change in the group's improvising dynamic. Working on an almost telepathic level, they have developed an innate familiarity with each other that enables them to second guess abrupt tempo changes and harmonic detours with split second timing. Bolstering this set of originals with a few notable guest appearances, "Dachau" is easily one of 2005's finest releases.
Leading off with the breezy but subtly tense "Dresden," the trio immediately unveils its close-knit interplay with sudden dynamic shifts in tempo and rhythm. Musillami is a more traditionally minded guitarist than most of his contemporaries, but that doesn't make him any less interesting. With his clean, hollow body derived sound, Musillami can conjure phrases of delicate beauty that a solid bodied electric instrument often cannot. He can also belt out a slew of jagged notes, skronked harmonics and discordantly disjointed phrases as well as any of his peers, but his resonant timbre is akin to that of the classic post war guitarists. Joe Fonda employs a thick, rich tone on contrabass that provides all the bottom end one could desire along with a liberal tendency to break out his bow, tearing into arco solos that are as acerbic and nascent as any electric instrument. George Schuller is an endlessly inventive drummer, tooling around his augmented kit, he is a whirl of tiny cymbal clashes and ping-ponging percussive accents one minute, a throttling mass of press rolls and punishing back beats the next. Although the trio certainly doesn't need any help navigating Musillami's compelling tunes, they are occasionally joined by a few guest soloists, always to remarkable effect.
"Archives" features a tumultuous guest spot by tenor saxophonist and fellow Playscape recording artist Tom Christensen, with one of his most explosive solos to date. Filled with angular ascending and descending melodic fragments, the tune's maze-like, elliptical nature helps ratchet up Christensens' solo excursion until he practically explodes. Under-recognized pianist Peter Madsen also makes strong appearances here, with his rambunctious, bashing solo on "Part Pitbull" a highlight of the session. The whole sextet is featured on the title track with its multi-part structure that casts a revealing light on the group's strengths. Christensen and Ballou get caught up in an unaccompanied cadenza that swings without rhythm section accompaniment, ala Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry's famous duet on the "The Alchemy of Scott Lafaro" from Coleman's 1961 classic "The Art of the Improvisers," while the leader delivers a subdued solo of controlled but vibrant freedom.
"Dachau" is at heart, a trio album and the ensemble's creative breadth is best exemplified by the album closer, "Metaphor 3.4.5.," a slow, noirish groove driven by Musillami's futuristic staccato blues lines. At once respective of the past and reaching well beyond it, this cut is also its most telling. While Musillami and company are aware of tradition and respectful of it, even to the point of embracing its structures, they are in no way limited by staid genre conventions.
"Dachau" is the sort of jazz album that should have critics of all stripes heaping excessive praise on. But if ever there was a release that deserved the hype, it would be this record. Full of ingenious interplay and heated improvisation, Musillami and company have given us at the very least, the years finest jazz guitar album."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1