Search - Phillip Johnston :: Needless Kiss

You might consider this drummerless Phillip Johnston quartet a chamber group, with its stretched textures and rolling motifs. The group plays with a very filmic approach, building dramas up in the contrasts between Mark Josefsberg's vibraphone and the twin horns of Johnston and Joe Ruddick (who plays mostly baritone saxophone). Refereeing between the horns is bassist Dave Hofstra, who marks sonic areas with well-placed rhythm, careful never to force a tempo. The band has played scores to silent films, a practice at which Johnston excels. Here they move from "Pipeline," which Johnston says he wrote while imagining his musical inspiration, Don Van Vliet (a.k.a Captain Beefheart), to fine instances of musical counterpoint. This is a warm, vivid CD that works the way Jimmy Giuffre's trio did: hovering around and living within musical adventure without taking the heat miser's approach to energy. --Andrew Bartlett