JENNY SCHEINMAN

12 Songs
Cryptogramophone CG125

CUONG VU
It’s Mostly Residual
Artists Share No #

Guitarist Bill Frisell is a featured player on both these CDs, which also include among the personnel a bassist, a drummer and a cornetist or trumpeter. Each is lead by a youngish instrumentalist, brought up on the West Coast and whose talent has subsequently led to high-profile gigs in New York, where both now live. Two more dissimilar sessions you couldn’t imagine.

It isn’t just the personnel, although IT’S MOSTLY RESIDUAL is a quartet date and the group on some of 12 SONGS’ tracks swells to septet size. Rather it’s that the former disc is on this side of frantic, completing trumpet Cuong Vu’s trilogy of almost punk-rock fuelled releases – albeit this time in quartet, rather than trio formation. When the pace slows down the unforced, polyphonic tones resemble some of the hipper lines written by guitarist Pat Metheny, in whose group, the Seattle-raised Vu has been featured the past few years.

Conversely, violinist Jenny Scheinman’s release is mostly folksy and laid back, infused with the rowdy, under-inhabited spirit of the back-to-the-land California commune where she was raised. At the same time, the CD doesn’t the neglect other facets of her experience, which at gigs in the Bay area and then New York, have included membership in the avant-rock band, The Charming Hostesses, backing singers Norah Jones and Elvis Costello, a niche in most of Frisell’s recent projects, part of the Big Apple Circus band and a duo with adventurous pianist Myra Melford.

Vu himself admits that IT’S MOSTLY RESIDUAL is the “last part of a period for me, where [bassist] Stomu [Takeishi] and I stumbled onto an approach and developed it and now we’re pretty much ready to move on to something else.” Not a minute too soon either can be added.

As good as some of the material on the CD is – and some of it is quite exceptional – the freshness behind the concept is beginning to fade. Vu’s idea of recreating power trio energy with his trumpet in the lead guitar role has worked well in the past. But the presence of Frisell’s real guitar unbalances the equation. More than that, as much as the guitarist’s heated flanges, rapid arpeggios and echoing riffs try to approximate energetic soloing, Frisell’s Eddie Van Halen-style licks often muddy the songs. Besides, today it seems, the fretman would much rather be Chet Atkins.

For instance, “Blur” features the guitarist’s chromatic frills that quickly turn to New Country licks, leaving the toughening of the beat to drummer Ted Poor – who also plays with guitarist Ben Monder – as well as dominant organ-like chords modulating from Takeishi’s electric fretless bass. Initially freeing enough space so that Vu can vibrate wall-of-sound radung-like tones from his horn, Frisell’s use of pulsing delays to distort and expand his string palate, makes the backing so dense and crowded that the trumpeting is almost lost.

On the preceding piece, Vu cuts his way through this rococo layering with a set of heraldic rubato notes. There are a few too many spacey Matheny-style echoes throughout, however. In truth, the individuality and palpable excitement of the Vu trio should arise from the trumpeter’s braying timbres extending an improvisation as if he’s scraping the internal metallic finish from his axe. Vu shouldn’t have to, as he does on “Blur” and “Brittle, Like Twigs”, make own his way as the guitarist tries out desultory guitar hero histrionics, and the bassist and drummer chug along like Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker backing Eric Clapton.

More notable, “Patchwork”, an almost 13-minute, long-lined impressionistic piece aims to be a Roots-Americana-style ballad. The guitarist finger-picks a rapid series of reverberating arpeggios as steady beats ease from hand drumming to martial. Finally Frisell and Vu connect in such a way that the Vu’s electronically triggered oscillations nearly replicate a second guitar line. As the two pan across the composition with alternating ratcheting and rippling hard pulses, it’s as if they’re two parts of the same instrument.

Frisell’s dual musical personality flashing between psychedelica and folksy at times undermines what Vu and Takeishi worked so hard to attain. This CD doesn’t impress as much as earlier trio discs.

A similar situation exists with 12 SONGS, but with Frisell apparently more in tune with his erstwhile sideperson’s vibe – and with more players available among which to spread the musical contours – the fissures aren’t as noticeable. However, lesser moments do occur in many of the shorter pieces. Scheinman possesses a sentimental streak as deep as the Mississippi, it seems, and too many of these balladic outings turn syrupy enough to resemble background fodder for oldsters’ dance lesson. Waltz-like and folksy, not only is the fiddler’s output solipsistic, but Frisell’s licks migrate past Atkins’ country-pop into lulling country-pap territory.

An obvious near miss is “Albert”, an adagio hymn dedicated to Albert Ayler. Featuring a meandering melody built around unfocused drumming from Dan Rieser and quivering accordion lines from Rachelle Garniez, it captures the saxophonist’s spirituality, but not his energy. Imagine any Ayler tune played by Fairport Convention and you’ll get the idea.

Luckily there are other more favorable tracks. “Antenna” initially balances on the contrast between country and western guitar lines and Middle Eastern-style bass clarinet riffs before oozing into near-minimalism. Frisell cranks up sharp, dissonant riffs, Scheinman counters with cross pulsations, cornetist Ron Miles spins out tremolo notes and bassist Tim Luntzel and Rieser rustle timbres sympathetically. With its cascading guitar snaps and contrapuntal fiddle swipes “Song of the Open Road” sounds like the kind of hobo song Woody Guthrie would have recorded if he was backed by funk-jazz guitarist Grant Green. And, despite its title, “Little Calypso” is a simple – almost simplistic melody of pumping near circus music that moves in rondo fashion around riffs created by Garniez’s calliope-like claviola, Doug Wieselman’s clarinet and Scheinman emphasizing the deeper, viola-like tones of her fiddle.

Lead off “The Frog Threw His Head Back and Laughed” has some of the guitarist’s best work as he joins with the accordionist to slide bluesy licks behind Miles’ mid-range trills and Scheinman’s fiddle work which calls on both Klezmer and Roma traditions.

An impressive group effort and showcase for Scheinman’s 12 songs, what’s really lacking is more tightening and focus.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Residual: 1. It’s Mostly Residual 2. Expressions of a Neurotic Impulse 3. Patchwork 4. Brittle, Like Twigs 5. Chitter Chatter 6. Blur

Personnel: Residual: Cuong Vu (trumpet); Bill Frisell (guitar,); Stomu Takeishi (electric fretless bass); Ted Poor (drums)

Track Listing: Songs: 1. The Frog Threw His Head Back and Laughed* 2. Song of the Open Road 3. Moe Hawk* 4. Sleeping in the Aquifer 5. The Buoy Song* 6. She Couldn’t Believe It Was True 7. Suza 8. Little Calypso 9. Satellite 10. Antenna 11. Albert 12. June 21

Personnel: Songs: Ron Miles (cornet [all tracks but 4, 6]); Doug Wieselman (clarinets*); Jenny Scheinman (violin); Rachelle Garniez (accordion [1-4, 6, 11-12], piano (5, 9), claviola (7, 8) Bill Frisell (guitar [all tracks but 8, 9]); Tim Luntzel (bass [all tracks but 8, 9]); Dan Rieser (drums [all tracks but 8, 9])

March 13, 2006

CHRIS SPEED’S YEAH NO

Swell Henry
Squealer SQLR 040

Known for his incisive soloing with prototypical downtown groups lead by the likes of altoist Tim Berne’s and pianist Myra Melford, reedist Chris Speed, seems most concerned with lyricism, Balkan inflections and ambience here.

Not a smooth jazz record, the less than 39-minute session could easily be confused for a soft-rock outing by members of a metal band eager to display their chops in a quieter setting. Cumulatively the 10 tracks offer little more than music that could be played for dancing and background during a semi-hip wedding in Manhattan’s East Village or Brooklyn’s Park Slope.

Yeah NO includes drummer Jim Black and electric bassist Skuli Sverisson, who along with Speed and guitarist Hilmar Jensson – guesting on one track – operate in similar, though rockier territory in the drummer’s AlasNoAxis band. Additional dense harmonies are slathered over most of the tracks by Rob Burger’s accordion and/or Jamie Saft’s mellotron or Wurlitzer electric piano. Remaining member is trumpeter Cuong Vu, who despite membership in Pat Metheny’s most recent touring combo, manages to do something more with jazz-rock interface on his own CDs.

Saft’s mellotron noodling is particularly unfortunate, since when it’s featured, the band leans into King Crimson territory. In fact nearly all of the undulating keyboard textures create similar harmonics, smoothing out the few spiky impulses Vu’s double-tongued plunger growls or Speed’s barnyard squeaks proffer. With the themes nearly indistinguishable from one another, solo work is often reduced to breaks among collective coloration.

Electrified, sluicing bass lines and shuffle beats from the drums are the most common accompaniment. Nadir is reached on a couple of tunes where impudent polyphony from the horns gives way to a steady almost monochromatic line centred around a folkie guitar, picked clawhammer style and sounding as if it was break time at an Eagles concert. Since no acoustic guitarist is listed, no individual blame can be ascribed.

In short, SWELL HENRY is more “no” than “yeah”.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. She Has Four Thorns* 2. Last Beginning* 3. Born in the Air*+ 4. Camper Giorno+ 5. Cloud Stopper 6. Flanked^ 7. He Has a Pair of Dice 8. Dead Water* 9. Staircase Genius*# 10.Kip Files$

Personnel: Cuong Vu (trumpet); Chris Speed (tenor saxophone, clarinet and Casio); Rob Burger (accordion*); Jamie Saft (mellotron+); Wurlitzer electric piano^); Hilmar Jensson (guitar#); Skuli Sverisson (electric bass); Jim Black (drums); Speak & Spell (program$)

May 30, 2005

MYRA MELFORD’S THE TENT

Where the Two Worlds Touch
Arabesque AJ0159

THE FONDA/STEVENS GROUP
Twelve improvisations
Leo CD LR 394

Building on jazz’s standard two-horns-and-rhythm combo format, these CDs impress by showing how the players manage to make things new by tweaking sounds to match their own aspirations.

A team for over 20 years, pianist Michael Jefry Stevens and bassist Joe Fonda do this by not only insisting that all the sounds on their CD be completely improvised, but by adding another voice to the line-up. French alto and baritone saxophonist Daunik Lazro is one of that country’s foremost experimenters, working in contexts as varied as solo recitals and bands with saxophonist Michel Doneda and Joe McPhee. Here his unique articulation and sound sources add another dimension to that supplied by the pianist, bassist, long-time drummer Harvey Sorgen, and endlessly inventive trumpeter Herb Robertson, who has worked with Fonda and Stevens in various bands, on-and-off for more than a decade.

Pianist Myra Melford approach to the situation is a bit different. Following her Fulbright scholarship-sponsored, nine-month residency in Calcutta, this session finds her integrating the sounds of Northern India on harmonium with her own influences which range from distinctive poetics to salutes to earlier jazz heroes. Furthermore, her band, The Tent, melds sidefolk from her earlier combos. Trumpeter Cuong Vu and bassist Stomu Takeishi -- who are both in Vu’s trio -- join with busy Manhattan reedist Chris Speed and drummer Kenny Wollesen who has played with John Zorn.

Encompassing sampled traffic noises and vocal exhortations recorded in Calcutta, “No News At All” is the only track that directly refers to Melford’s experience on the subcontinent. But the accordion-like repetitive riffs she produces on the harmonium and the drummer’s backbeat color that so-called exotica in a different way. So do Vu’s brassy squeals and Speed’s clarinet trills, both of which end in sibilant whistles. If anything the end product resembles a jolly tarantella more than Hindustani music. Not only that, but any time Takeishi is front and centre, his flat picking, thumb pops and flailing confirms that these are bass guitars he’s playing not a sarod or an acoustic stand up bass.

Harmonium timbres may be on display in a viscous mixture with a clarinet reed on the nearly 12 minute “Where the Ocean Misquotes the Sky”, but that doesn’t stop Melford from eventually switching to high frequency piano tone clusters to emphasize the theme. Shortly after that, her cascading overtones and modal attack introduce pure swing accompanied by press rolls from the drummer and a walking bass line. Earlier, any eclogue resemblance is lost among the trumpeter’s glottal smears and slurs. With the horns playing double counterpoint quietly in background, the pianist gradually gooses the tempo to a satisfactory conclusion.

Or listen to “Brainfire and Buglight” where a jagged swaying and hocketing tenor line mixes it up with irregular note clusters from the piano, electric bass blasts that sound like tuba toots, and rolls and flams from the drummer. As Speed becomes more aggressively abstract, and Vu adds quacking runs and basso pedal tones, Melford keep everything together with glissandi.

Summation of all this is “Hello Dreamers (for Lester Bowie)”, which celebrates the pan musicalism of the late Art Ensemble trumpeter. Beginning with Vu approximating Bowie’s sour tone, varied drum work and a massed polyphonic horn line soon double the tempo to a more ambulatory, almost joyous pace. Following Speed’s exhibition of double tonguing and split tones, Melford turns to key clipping for a spell. Then she slows the tempo down to a two handed quasi boogie-woogie exercise, propelling cascading note clusters into different tempos and harmonies. Enlivened by a splayed Rent Party beat, the piece reaches a galloping climax, then reprises the melancholy section at the top.

At home or abroad, the power of improvised music means that you can be celebratory even in the midst of sorrow.

Alive with a dozen improvisations to Melford’s eight, Fonda, Stevens and crew have more scope in which to exhibit their talents. Additionally, while these may be TWELVE IMPROVISATIONS, they’re definitely not 12 pieces of indulged abstraction. Veterans, each member of the quintet knows what he can do, and gets enough space to do it within a group context.

Take, “Distant Voices,” at almost 9½-minutes the longest track. Here modulated stick pressure and knuckle duster rolls from Sorgen lead into ponticello bowing from Fonda and the continuous spew of accented timbres from Robertson. As Lazro adds harmonic color, the trumpeter’s lines get more expressive and legato. Soon the brassman is chromatically severing single notes as Stevens accompanies him with church-like low frequency chords. Lazro, now on baritone, smoothly resonates underneath, as Robertson decorates the line with stairstep obbligatos.

The Frenchman’s bari can squeal as well as snort as he demonstrates on “Talking Drum”, most of which is taken up by Sorgen doing just that. Lazro double tongues searing altissimo squeaks that are later amplified by Robertson’s quivering valves. Meanwhile the percussionist resonates, rattles and rolls as if he was playing a bata or a darbuka, using his palms, fingers and palms more than his sticks.

Robertson and he exhibit classic teamwork between brassy triplets and pardiddles and flams on the aptly named “Call and Response”. Throughout the CD, the trumpeter seems to be functioning at a level even higher than in years past, having finally exchanged European expatriate life for the United States.

Two example of this are “Extracurricular Activity” and “The Meeting”. The former finds Stevens’ high frequency, circular piano accents succeeded by split-second, tongue stopping blasts from Lazro and exaggerated wah-wah blowing from Robertson in Clyde McCoy mode.

More serious, the latter sets up a series of meetings among the group members. Concerned with cascading chords and right-handed plinking, Stevens pushing broken note patterns into a swinging centre meets rumbles, glances and bounces from Sorgen. Then Harmon-muted tones from Robertson meet sharp slurs from Lazro’s alto, As the trumpeter maintains his feathery timbres, staying concise and concentrated, Lazro moves to split tones and lip vibrations.

Sometimes the sounds move far beyond the expected. Arco bass lines and pronged internal piano string constraint on “In the Distance” are succeeded by what could be electro-acoustic oscillation and distortion mated with buzzing brass tones. As Fonda cushions everyone with arco bustles both high-pitched and lower, Lazro adds altissimo flutter tonguing. Finally the resolution appears in Stevens rubbing the internal piano strings with a light, cylindrical object as Robertson continues twittering short phrases on his own, as if he was a homeless person mumbling to himself.

Improvisations also include variations on jazz’s bedrock, with “Front and Center” a finger snapping blues piano showcase, complete with rolling drumbeats and walking bass. Andante, Stevens reveals his inner Red Garland and Fonda displays a bass line that would do Milt Hinton proud. Only at the very end does Lazro contribute dissonant split tones and irregular vibrated slurs and cries.

If the CD has a weakness, it’s that the final track founders on slow moving hard handed descending piano tones and a whiny, vibrated trumpet egress. Considering what went before the CD should end with a flourish not a whimper.

Still one lapse can be forgiven.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Worlds: 1. Eight 2. Where the Two Worlds Touch (for Andrew Hill) 3. Brainfire and Buglight 4. Where the Ocean Misquotes the Sky 5. Secrets To Tell You 6. Everything Today 7. Hello Dreamers (for Lester Bowie) 8. No News At All

Personnel: Worlds: Cuong Vu (trumpet); Chris Speed (clarinet and tenor saxophone); Myra Melford (piano and harmonium); Stomu Takeishi (electric and acoustic bass guitar); Kenny Wollesen (drums)

Track Listing: Twelve: 1. Ostrich 2. The Meeting 3. Electricity 4.In the Distance 5.Talking Drum 6. Extracurricular Activity 7. Front and Center 8. Call and Response 9. Dante’s Inferno 10. Distant Voices 11. Bariphonics 12. Trance

Personnel: Twelve: Herb Robertson (trumpet); Daunik Lazro (alto and baritone saxophones); Michael Jefry Stevens (piano); Joe Fonda (bass); Harvey Sorgen (drums)

August 30, 2004

ANDY LASTER’S LESSNESS

Window Silver Bright
New World Records 80589-2

Almost 50 years ago, in 1953, New York vibist Teddy Charles got together with some advanced musicians in Los Angeles to produce COLLABORATION: WEST, an LP which molded chamber jazz, classical touches and swinging blues into a unique confection of shifting tonal centres.

Baritone saxophonist Andy Laster may never have heard that album. But the recipe he’s applied to this disc makes it a perfect successor to it and one that’s just as impressive. Like Charles, who used drummer Shelly Manne, bassist Curtis Counce, trumpeter Shorty Rogers and Jimmy Giuffre on baritone saxophone, his line up is eerily similar. Like the Californians, who worked in each other’s bands, Laster’s sidemen also often play together in other aggregations.

The baritone saxophonist, who at one point was part of singer Lyle Lovett’s Large Band is in the Julius Hemphill Sextet, writes contemporary chamber music and is part of cellist Erik Friedlander’s Topaz band. Friedlander, who has also played in John Zorn’s Bar Kokhba project, is in pianist Myra Melford’s quartet with trumpeter Cuong Vu and drummer Michael Sarin. Sarin has worked with trumpeter Dave Douglas, a former Laster associate, while Vu has also worked with Douglas and Zorn. Odd man out here is vibist/marimbaist Bryan Carrott. But he more than makes up for it with experience ranging from the outside bands of composers like Muhal Richard Abrams and Henry Threadgill to mainstreamers like saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman and drummer Ralph Peterson.

Interestingly, as well, although all the compositions on this nearly 60 minute CD are by Laster, like the solo order on the Charles disc, it’s the mallet man and the trumpeter who get most of the space. Carrott, especially, is convincing, preferring the marimba with its natural sound to the electrified vibraphone for most of his work.

Something like “In Teum”, for instance, finds him using four mallets to intersect with Vu’s quasi-baroque trumpet and the bowed cello. Then he starts triple timing like a modern day Terry Gibbs in response to Friedlander powerfully wielding his axe like an electric bass, slinky brass blasts and Sarin’s polyrhythms from both sticks on drum heads and brushes on cymbals.

Throughout, the cello is voiced with either the vibes or the horns in such a way that the result takes on characteristics of a chamber orchestra string section. On tunes like the pretty, swinging, but hard-centred “The Rooascend”, the lines seem to go off every which way before uniting in short passages of vibrating sound. Laster solos with the delicacy of a tenor saxophonist here, while the muted, buzzing of Vu’s trumpet adds the toughness needed.

“Norseman”, the longest track, with its modulating pub-drinking rhythm, uses the 12-tone technique, but so un-academically that it scarcely registers as something out of the ordinary. Relying on a sort of double counterpoint, Vu plays some open horn, while the cellist shows off his classical chops. Later the trumpeter prods gravelly tones from his highest register while the baritone expels low breaths. Passing the theme around, the instruments go in and out of unison with the sort of split-second timing you need driving bumper cars in an amusement park.

Romantic references to Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” are lightly voiced on “Trit and Ina” and then elongated by Sarin’s wood blocks and Vu’s spit valve trumpeting plus a cello part that could be mistaken for one from a bagpipe. But to avoid pretension, the piece’s real movement seems to owe more to some of those humorous ambling ICP compositions of Misha Mengelberg than heavy Wagnerian seriousness. Analytically, “Rip-rush” too may officially have a hocketing beat. But the five treat it like rock’n’roll, with Sarin hitting heavily, Carrott wiggling the wood of his marimba and Vu growling and bugling.

After COLLABORATION: WEST many of he participants rejected experimental chamber sounds for out-and-out swinging. But that’s one advantage 21st century musicians have, exemplified by this CD, which could be termed COLLABORATION: EAST. They can be experimental and swing at the same time.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Jellyfish 2. In Teum 3. The Rooascend 4. Mito 5. Rip-Rush 6. Black Pond 7. Norseman 8. Halcyon Days 9. Trit and Ina

Personnel: Cuong Vu (trumpet); Andy Laster (baritone saxophone); Bryan Carrott (vibraphone and marimba); Erik Friedlander (cello); Michael Sarin (drums, temple blocks)

August 5, 2002

CUONG VU

Come Play With Me
Knitting Factory KFW 298

No one is likely to confuse trumpeter Cuong Vu with a neo-con young lion.

Although he’s young enough (28), educated enough (the New England Conservatory) and experienced enough (including a touring gig with the Pat Metheny Group), he doesn’t seem interested in the rote bebop recreations that characterize other young trumpeters. Working with the likes of Laurie Anderson and David Bowie as well as more jazz-oriented types, he’s evolved a distinctive, electronics-influenced style that with this band almost takes on the trappings of a rock power trio.

But that’s where his challenges now lies. Although this leisurely, atmospheric disc is easily the equal of PURE, his first with these two musicians, it also seems to be a continuation of it. Can Vu, in the future be inventive enough to create other different sounding projects?

Right now, he appears to be using reverb and delay to take the muted, electronic trumpet one melodic step beyond electric Miles, with each of these overlong pieces working essentially the same way. Having the technique to make his instrument wiggle out a lead guitar line, with muted wah wahs which reference rock rather than Bubber Miley’s plunger work, Vu will keep an ethereal theme floating along at certain points of the song. Mechanically he’s even able to echo his own solos.

At one point, the heads, which often resemble ambient music, explode into a stratospheric brass vivisection, replete with aviary peeps and reverberating whistles, before calming down again. During that section, drummer John Hollenbeck bears down on his drum kit and crashes his cymbals, while Stomu Takeishi thumps out a steady dinosaur rumble from his bass guitar. There are times when Vu’s interaction with Hollenbeck reminds you of the James Brown’s grunts meeting the beats of JB Clyde Stubblefield. Other times, though, it seems as if a lounge group playing “(I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You” has been joined by a Black Metal combo midway through the tune.

Engineer and co-producer Laurent Brondel’s contribution to “Amniotic” on lap steel guitar doesn’t really alter the equation. Still, the racing car speed lead guitar lines or shimmering organ chords heard on this track are more readily ascribed to his axe than Takeishi’s.

Perhaps the nub of Vu’s task is illustrated on the appropriately titled “Again and Again and Again”, which, just as fittingly, is the final tune. Built around a constantly repeated four-note trumpet pattern, the brassman only occasionally breaks the chain by indulging in some kissing sounds from his mouthpiece or plunging deeper into the valves. Meanwhile the bassist rumbles along and the percussionist, except for a minute triangle-striking interlude, also sticks to a repetitious pattern.

If Vu continues to turn out comparable trio sessions like this one, he’ll come up against the law of diminishing returns. His originality, based on not producing a pastiche of what came before can turn to rote with an always-expected style. Can he follow other visionary musicians like -- to name two trumpeters -- Dave Douglas and Miles Davis and introduce different bands and different musical concepts, or will he get stuck in a rut?

As it stands now, you can only say yes when Vu asks the listener to COME PLAY WITH ME, but the future isn’t that clear.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Come Play With Me 2. Vinna’s Lullaby 3. Amniotic* 4. Safekeepings 5. Again and Again and Again

Personnel: Cuong Vu (trumpet); Laurent Brondel (lap steel guitar)*; Stomu Takeishi (electric bass); John Hollenbeck (drums)

December 24, 2001

CUONG VU

Pure
Knitting Factory Works KFW-266

With PURE, Cuong Vu seems to have created the jazz version of a rock music power trio. Just imagine his trumpet as the guitar hero-style lead instrument on this session, meshed with Stomu Takeishi's very obviously electric bass and John Hollenbeck's inventive drumming. That done you can easily think of the three as a very sophisticated version of Rush, Triumph or Z.Z. Top.

More seriously, the reason this CD is so impressive is despite -- or perhaps because of -- their power, the trio members are versatile enough to adapt many different musical forms to their own ends.

Take the 17 and 1/2 minute "I Shall Never Come Back", for example. It gradually evolves from a spacey, electronics-tinged trumpet tone exploration to an out-and-out rocker, complete with auditorium shaking drumbeats and Brontosaurus tooth chomping bass rhythm. Additionally, nowhere do you get the sense that this is the limit of the trio's talents -- as with some fusion bands -- or that the faux-heaviness wasn't, in fact, unpremeditated, but instead several taped bits pieced together in the studio.

Part of this conception stems from the real time electronics used on the session. Not only does the bassist augment the electric capacities of his instrument with a looping device called a boomerang, but Vu also uses two delay units as well as a reverb unit on his trumpet. Interesting enough, one is called a delay guitar pedal, which clearly underlines the "rock" feel of some of these tracks.

A New York "downtowner" who has worked with artists as varied as pianist Myra Melford, reedist Chris Speed, plus pop stars David Bowie and Cibo Matto, the trumpeter certainly knows his post rock. But he's as interested in the questions that can be raised by experimenting with different sounds as the answers provided by more conventional music. "Vina, All Grown Up", for instance, is almost 12 minutes of resonating, lyrical single brass notes cunningly displayed on top of a pillow of bass guitar washes, while "Pitter-patter" has clenched throat tones facing off against Hollenbeck ingenious percussion asides.

Similarly, it's no surprise that PURE offers a display of more than standard timekeeping. After all, the drummer is someone as comfortable motivating Bob Brookmeyer's conventional New Art Orchestra, as he is collaborating with avant classicist Meredith Monk. On one tune here he can make his kit sound like a conga drum, then turn around and pull out what appears to be a collection of oddball percussion -- including a steam whistle -- to animate the aptly-named "Child-like". Then there's Takeishi's contribution. More than your average electric bassist -- perhaps because of his use of electronics -- he's one of the few able to unshackle the instrument from its pop history and extends its range as a flexible improvisational tool.

This CD proves that well-thought-out experimental music can be as forceful and riveting as any Heavy Metal manifesto. Plus it can be a lot more palatable to the ears -- and the brainpan.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Faith 2. Vina, All Grown Up 3. Pitter-patter 4. Child-like 5. I Shall Never Come Back 6. Pure

Personnel: Cuong Vu (trumpet); Stomu Takeishi (electric bass); John Hollenbeck (drums, percussion)

August 12, 2000