Search - Derek Bailey, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Calvin Weston :: Mirakle

Derek Bailey, funkster

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 11/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In recent years something of a subproject has developed in the Derek Bailey canon, seemingly at the prompting of John Zorn--the Derek Bailey Power Trio. Prior to this disc was the Arcana group that recorded _The Last Wave_ (Bailey plus Tony Williams & Bill Laswell), & a pair of discs with Japan's The Ruins. _Mirakle_ finds him in the company of Jamaaladeen Tacuma & Calvin Weston, & it's indeed something of a miracle that this encounter turns out well. What's striking to this listener is the amount of interaction among the musicians--on his own ground in free-improv situations Bailey frequently avoids obvious interplay or dialogue, but here there's little sense of parallel paths: check out, for instance, his brilliant bobbing & weaving over & under the head-nodding groove that opens "What It Is". Frequently Bailey simply ignores pitch entirely to scrub rhythmically at the strings to create counterrhythms; or he will let a harsh ringing note hang over the tumult below. Actually, I suspect many blindfolded listeners might suppose this a particularly offbeat James Blood Ulmer date.Listening to this album one hears a strange meeting of two musical worlds--American funk & English avantgarde improv--& one's sense is expanded of what these styles can do, & how flexible they can be. Tacuma and Weston are terrific--it's remarkable how Tacuma's feline, rubbery lines set up grooves that push ahead without locking things down. The improvisations are basically jams in which the American musicians set a groove up & then the trio picks it apart until it falls to pieces, only to be replaced by another. A common method of proceeding--but what's rare in such jamming, & impressive here, is how the segues never seem to be treading water in search of the next idea: this is music packed with moment-by-moment detail & eventfulness.A strange, compelling & rather addictive album: rather unexpectedly for an album by Derek Bailey it's, er, a lot of fun. A really fine CD: fans of rarefied Brit-improv will probably hate it, but I suspect James Blood Ulmer fans will love it...."

Bring the Noise, Bring in the Funk.

Douglas T Martin | Alpharetta, GA USA | 06/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You either love Derek Bailey's playing or you hate it; there's no middle ground. If you love his playing style then you may have your favorite format in which to hear it - acoustic solo, electric and percussion, duets, trios, whatever. This is my favorite - Derek Bailey and Prime Time. On other recordings it sometimes sounds like Derek Bailey is off doing his own noisy abstract thang while everyone else is concentrating on their own. On this recording you can easily connect with the funky, blues-based grooves and hear how Bailey plays with the music. Hearing Derek Bailey riffing along with the groove in the first track was worth the cost of the whole CD. Weston and Tacuma have never sounded better together - even better than on Coleman's "In All Languages". A great - and very funny - recording. But like all Bailey recordings, it's not for the timid."

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ptitchitza | Leiden, Netherlands | 04/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bailey's guitar comes at you from all angles. It may cut and bruise at first but when one's mind sinks it into thick molasses of his great rhythm section, one realises it works with and not against them. Like "few drops of whiskey in a spoonful of honey". Tzadik really summed it up the best: "Noise has never sounded so in tune, funk has never sounded so f***ed up." Some may be well advised to have a "soothing" and less demanding CD within reach for a speedy recovery from the shock after 70 miraKulous minutes."