ROVA: ORKESTROVA

An Alligator in Your Wallet
EWE

By Ken Waxman
December 27, 2004

Limited to Japanese distribution, An Alligator in Your Wallet is an important CD because it provides new evidence for what already should be regarded as truisms.

One is that the usually self-contained Bay area saxophone quartet ROVA can smoothly function as the sax section in any sized ensemble. The other is that pianist Satoko Fujii, who divides her time between Tokyo and New York, is a versatile enough composer to utilize the idiosyncrasies of these musicians in more experimental pieces than she usually writes for her own bans and combos.

A motley crew of the West Coast’s best improvisers, the 12-piece Orkestrova includes trumpeter Darren Johnston, veteran Michael Vlatkovich and Tom Yoder on trombones, violinist Carla Kihlstedt and Scott Amendola on drums and electronics. Added are Fujii, her husband and playing partner, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, Angelo-turned-Brooklynite bassist Ken Filiano, and ROVA itself. That’s Bruce Ackley on soprano and tenor saxophones, Larry Ochs on sopranino and tenor saxophones, Jon Raskin on baritone saxophone and Steve Adams -- who wrote the two pieces here not from Fujii’s pen -- on alto saxophone and bass flute

Interestingly enough, for a musician who is a member of the best-known, so-called avant-garde sax quartet, it’s Adams’ pieces that inch closest to pure swing. His “Chuck”, for instance, is a bluesy romp that at times sounds as if it’s being played by Count Basie’s horn section. The more-than-16 minute composition is borne on call-and-response riffing from the reeds as well as Fujii’s outgoing arpeggio-rich soloing until it splinters into individual solos. Backed by walking bass and syncopated drumbeats, for instance, the composer frolics, slithers and squeals when it’s his time in front of the mic.

After that, Ackley produces reed blasts that match up with Yoder’s full plunger mode output, their duet mirrored later at a wavering, slower tempo by resonant licks from Raskin paired with breezy grace notes from Johnston. Polyphonic horn expansion then gives way to a perfectly executed ‘bone display by Vlatkovich that’s simultaneously clean and funky. As the piece reaches its climax, bravura hocketing and humorous broken octaves from all the horns meld, than fade away.

“Survival (in Five Acts)” -- Adams’ other contribution -- is a touch more extended than the former tune. It showcases his sonorous bass flute that presages a symphonic melding of timbres cushioning sweet, vocalized smears and wavering broken chords from the horns. Ominous sounding in parts, the line is extended with metallic electronic-like oscillations, with the constriction burst by Ochs’ twittering altissimo tone, high-pitched string-stretching from Filiano and irregular piano pulses. As Ochs continues to double and triple tongue, Kihlstedt’s jettes turn spiccato and pantonal lines sluice back and forth. Polyphonic sax timbres slow the tune down back to an echoing bass flute solo that reshapes the theme as the finale.

Fujii’s compositions are another matter. Experienced in creating for large groups --she leads both a Japanese and an American big band -- she manages the incredible feat of crafting dual-purpose pieces. Their performance seems to showcase screaming free-for-alls that you’d expect from other Energy Music classics such as Ascension or Machine Gun, while calling on the disciplined harmonies of a drilled modern swing ensemble like Gerry Mulligan’s legendary Concert Jazz Band. Certainly the first track, “A Lion in your Bag”, has all those attributes.

Characterized by a firm tempo, reminiscent of one of Anthony Braxton’s early marching band-style pieces, the title tune places jittery, flutter tonguing from Ackley on top of a malleable bouncing vamp from the other horns. As the trombones lob rubato grace notes at one another, Amendola’s percussion texture resembles big top circus music. Whinnying, whistling trumpet lines precede reed riffs and foretell a high-pitched, brassy ending.

Most atonal of the lot is the almost 10-minute “A Zebra on Your Roof”, where percussive rolls and flams plus massed reed section vamps follow almost otherworldly electronic oscillation. As the horn parts augment in volume, other timbres turn subservient to sul ponticello sweeps from the fiddler. In opposition Adams -- on alto -- produces smeary, circular, runs, while other hornmen assert themselves through determinedly vibrated lines. Pulsating piano chording that churns beneath all the other parts, mixed with faux-romantic violin tones, together suggest a chamber music concerto. That is until slammed percussion rhythms meld and mutate the shifting theme. Putting all classical references aside, the climax finds the brass heading towards Cat Anderson-like screeching tremolo territory.

Worth seeking out, the CD confirms the multi-faceted skills as players and orchestrators of both ROVA members and Fujii herself.

December 27, 2004

LARRY OCHS

Neon Truth
Black Saint 120217-2

More comfortable with contradictions than most North Americans, the French sometimes use the expression beau laide or “ugly beauty” to describe someone like Jean-Paul Belmondo who is not conventionally handsome, but is attractive none the less.

This concept, which also serves as the title of a Thelonious Monk composition, come to mind when listening to THE NEON TRUTH. Consisting of the abrasive sounds created when the harsh multiphonics of split tone sopranino and tenor saxophone mix with percussive noises from two drummers’ extended kits, beau laide seems particularly appropriate. With the strident qualities obvious, the beauty arises from skilful manipulation of this supposedly limited palette by top-flight musical stylists.

Take “Finn Crosses Mars” for instance. On it, saxophonist Larry Ochs begins by piling strident tones one on top of the other. Although his head references Sonny Rollins’ “East Broadway Rundown,” his tenor tone is deeper and harsher than Rollins’. Moving from elongated screeches and triple tongued, higher-pitched reed biting obbligatos to irregularly vibrated drones, the reedist’s glossolalia recalls the early days of the New Thing.

Meanwhile drummers Don Robinson and Scott Amendola rumble and rebound with bass-drum pedal pressure and heavy smacks on their doubled snares and toms. As one puts blacksmith-at-an-anvil weight on his drum tops, the other leaps from press rolls to ruffs to blows on the attached triangle. Like a classic soul singer such as Wilson Pickett, the saxist has the ability to temper his reed screams so that they sound several tones not just one. So the dual drummers respond with perambulating snare timbres and focused mallet pressure on ride cymbals. The whole thing is exhilarating but exhausting.

“Red Shift” offers more of the same at even greater length. There’s no doubt of the metal, wood and skin properties of the trap sets, as hi-hats, sizzle cymbals and ride cymbals quiver, and a collection of rolls, rumbles, smashes and bounces arising from the rest of the kit take on thunderstorm proportions. This squall could be deep in the verdant jungle, as the output from the two percussionists begins to resemble that of a disciplined troupe of African hand drummers. Additionally, closely linked reverberations make you focus on the sort of dialogue that talking drums promote.

If the drum duo is metaphorically performing in a sub-Sahara thicket, then the hornman is several camel rides north of them, creating reed tones with a Magrebian cast. Doubling and triple tonguing as if he was wielding a musette or a ney, Ochs resonates high-pitched tones from deep within the sax’s body tube. At times, his wavering timbres and piteous squeals even suggest the cry of a hungry child.

An internationalist, who years ago made a point to play in the former Soviet Union as well as throughout North America and Europe, Berkeley, Calif.-based Ochs is best known for his longtime membership in the experimental ROVA sax quartet. He has also worked with many other bands, some headed by the late saxophonist Glenn Spearman or Canadian bassist Lisle Ellis, the last two of which also featured Robinson. The drummer has played with local saxist Marco Eneidi and kotoist Miya Masaoka, who is also in a trio with Ochs. Amendola’s working situations have been even more varied, including stints with rock-influenced people like guitarist Nels Cline and keyboardist Wayne Horvitz.

This multiplicity of roots influences is probably why the musical universalism only goes so far. Sure, these and other tracks might find their germination in traditional chant singing from Asia and Africa, and in one Ochs sopranino line the singsong shtetel blues or Klezmer, but there’s plenty of American influences as well. A Native American-style pulse enlivens one track between drum ruffs and pealing bell tree sounds, while the power and raw energy of traditional blues shouters and chain gang harmonizers inform other tunes. Then there’s jazz. Part of Ochs’ sandpaper-like delivery come from the experiments of John Coltrane and he also has the knack of writing blues-like tune that display that sentiment without being formal blues, a trait he shares with Ornette Coleman.

Still the CD isn’t without faults. Lacking a chordal instrument there are times that the rhythms becomes too harsh and unyielding, making the ear yearn for some color and gracefulness to add to the rawness on display. In its defense though, the CD was recorded more than three years ago, before the three knew that the Drumming Core was going to be a regularly constituted unit.

With flaws THE NEON TRUTH is a good beginning. But the three must still work to overcome these early problems. Hearing how the trio functions as a band in 2003 should be very instructive.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Wrong Right Wrong 2. The Neon Truth 3. Give Me 209 4. Finn Crosses Mars 5. Xanic Rides Again 6. And Nothing But 7. Red Shift 1 8. Blues Keep Calling

Personnel: Larry Ochs (sopranino and tenor saxophones); Don Robinson (drums); Scott Amendola (drums)

November 24, 2003

SCOTT AMENDOLA GROUP

Cry
Cryptogramophone CG 116

Designed as a major socio-political statement, CRY, the new album by Bay area percussionist Scott Amendola involves much more than the jam band/jazz-funk tunes with which he made his reputation with T.J. Kirk and in guitarist Charlie Hunter’s Band.

Pointedly “inspired” by gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, according to the back cover, the drummer has included the spiritual “His Eye is on the Sparrow” and Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” among the pieces performed. Additionally, some of the other tunes, all written and arranged by Amendola, could have similar metaphoric meanings. “Rosa”, a relaxed, lightweight ballad may be inspired by Civil Rights leader Rosa Parks; “A Cry for John Brown” is no doubt directed towards the famous abolitionist; while “Bantu” and “Streetbeat” suggest that the disc may be trying to connect to the so-called urban (ahem) underclass. Finally, should we hear “My Son, the Wanderer” with its allusion to Allan Sherman’s “My Son The Folksinger” LP, as a confirmation that the percussionist has a message he wants to get across. Is CRY actually a jazz-folk-rock CD?

Well, yes and no. Evidently Amendola, whose employers have included sophisticated social commentators such as improv pianist Paul Plimley, composer John Zorn and the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh, wanted to produce more than a CD of instrumental virtuosity. Be assured though that everyone’s chops are up to the max. However, if you like this genre of music, you can still quarrel with what results on a couple of the tunes.

Since it includes vocals by Carla Bozulich of the Geraldine Fibbers, “Masters of War”, with its anti-profiteering message, is unequivocally designed as a major statement. It’s undoubtedly topical what with the Republican administration’s new found military imperialism -- cultural imperialism seems not to be enough for Bush & Co. -- though perhaps “With God on Our Side” would have been more appropriate.

Still it’s a good thing that the lyrics are included in the CD booklet. For Bozulich’s delivery seems to totter between a mumbled whisper and histrionics, neither of which leads to lyric comprehension. At the same time the accompaniment, which moves from a near-monotonous military tattoo from the drummer to screaming sax lines from Eric Crystal and sonic boom guitar runs from Nels Cline adds to the aural confusion.

Other tunes are more musically impressive. For instance on “A Cry for John Brown” the violin stylings of Jenny Scheinman, who has worked with Zorn plus pianists Cecil Taylor and Myra Melford, move from the restrained country and western fiddle licks on the ballads to unison statements with Crystal, and to solos that sound like a more tasteful Jean-Luc Ponty. The saxman, who has been musical director of the San Francisco Mime Troupe and played with everyone from Bob Weir and Mickey Hart of the Dead and Ziggy Modeliste of The Meters, to improvisers like pianist Vijay Iyer and clarinetist Ben Goldberg, confines himself to simple reed lines here as well. That’s good, because while he can approximate a bagpipe tone, as he does on “His Eye is on the Sparrow”, most of Crystal’s remaining work sounds like that of too many uninvolved studio woodwind players.

Scheinman’s counter motif played against the initial theme causes Amendola to vary his beat from a modified shuffle to a hard ProgRock attack. At the same time, the arena-style power chording from guitarist Nels Cline, who has worked with everyone from post-rocker guitarist Thurston Moore to inventive woodwind improviser Vinny Golia, is kept in check through the others’ fine work. It’s like listening to a Pat Metheny with ideas as well as technique.

Amendola has covered tunes by Jimi Hendrix and Nick Drake in the past and “Whisper, Scream (or the Ballad of two Finnish Women) [!]” seems to confirm his fascination with ProgRock. That outburst occurs midway through the tune, that introduces warbling trills from Crystal, a hearty Yes-style build up of chiming guitar and bass runs plus pounding drum beats. True to the percussionist’s more experimental side though, the piece begins with Cline squeezing back-of-the-bridge sounds from his instrument, until straight acoustic-style hard rock strumming introduces the theme.

Other tunes, such as “My Son, the Wanderer” are more notable for the light-fingered rims and side percussion sounds and conga drum suggestions the percussionist brings to them as well as for walking basses lines from Todd Sickafoose, whose experience lies more with fiddler Darol Anger and bluegrass singer Laurie Lewis than jazz. Too often, though, throughout the set, the saxophonist seems content to puff out a sweet lightweight soprano sound and the guitarist exhibits the worst sort of showy jazz-rock fusion twists and turns.

All in all, it seems that despite its good intentions and social conscience CRY misses greatness by a small margin. If a couple of the more laid back tunes had been eliminated and if the saxophonist and guitarist in particular had toughened their attack, this could have been a must-hear rather than an interesting experiment. Still, anyone listening to it will certainly be drawn to whatever Amendola comes up with in the future.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. His Eye is on the Sparrow 2. Bantu 3. A Cry for John Brown 4. Whisper, Scream (or the Ballad of two Finnish Women) 5. My Son, the Wanderer 6. Streetbeat 7. Masters of War* 8. Rosa

Personnel: Eric Crystal (soprano and alto saxophones); Jenny Scheinman (violin); Nels Cline (guitar) Todd Sickafoose (bass); Scott Amendola (drums, percussion); Carla Bozulich (vocals)*

February 24, 2003