Search - Brennan, Lee, Van Der Schyff :: Zero Heroes

The accessible avant-garde

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 11/27/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sound like an oxymoran? It probably would be with just about any other performer. But John Wolf Brennan has built a career (including some two dozen discs) on music that is at once cutting edge and listenable.This disc is no exception. Here Brennan (piano, prepared piano, melodica) traveled to Vancouver specifically to play with that remarkable domestic and performing duo, Dylan van der Schyff (percussion) and Peggy Lee (cello). Amazingly, considering they'd never met, let alone played together before, they connect instantly and profoundly--despite a mere hour's preparation for the concert this disc documents. This type of instant composing and improvising is per se a kind of high-wire act, one that often may be more admired that it is pulled off at all than actually enjoyed.Nevertheless, Zero Heroes provides perhaps equal amounts of admiration and enjoyment. The playing is nothing short of astounding. Peggy Lee has, certainly, one of the most arresting and ravishing tones among jazz cellists. Every bit the equal in chops to such players as Ernst Reijseger, Erik Friedlander, and Tristan Honsegger, she sounds little if anything like them. Her approach, including all kinds of extended techniques, covers everything from wild multistop arco to harrowing pizzicato passages. Dylan van der Schyff veritably whirlwinds all over his drums/percussion, producing appropriate pulsations, fills, bashes, crashes, and colorations--whatever's called for.But the real star here is Brennan. Possessed of a unique concept--somewhat reminiscent of early Cecil Taylor, with bits of Irene Schweizer and Marylin Crispel, though more melodic than any of these--and chops to burn, he consistently finds intreguing and beguiling contexts for his pianistic forays. Take "Anyway, Was There Ever Nothing," a tribute to Annette Peacock, a composer he greatly admires, and at 9:00 minutes the longest selection. Ostensibly a ballad, though of a rather mournful sort, Brennan employs a stunning mix of space, long tones, lightening runs, and skittery percussions even as van der Schyff lays down all kind of craziness on his drum kit and Lee engages in glorious cello sonorities. On "Powerful Stranger," a duet with Brennan and Lee, he produces all sorts of sounds, few of which resemble normal piano tones, until about the last third of the tune when it all comes together in a stunningly gorgeous passage.A note about Brennan's melodica playing. He sounds quite a bit like Michael Moore, the expat American clarinet and alto sax player--although one suposses there's not a whole lot of stylistic variety among melodica players since range of timbre is so narrow. Nevertheless, he has that same wild, almost feral, approach as Moore, stunningly exhibited on "Let It Find You," which, with "Western Front," finds the trio at their most expressionistic. Yes, this is forward-looking, edge-residing jazz, but nevertheless (for the most part) entirely accessible, with actual melodies, recognizable rhythmic patterns, and stunning group improvization. OK, it gets a little wild now and then, e.g., "Ants on Mars," but things generally resolve into some kind of recognizable soundscape.Been looking for something a little more adventurous than the normal post-bop/free-bop outing? Look no farther; John Wolf Brennan is your man."