Gates Hirsh Carter

Nearing 80 doesn’t appear to have impeded the creativity or yearning for new situations of New York multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter. Carter who has played with everyone from William Parker to Yoko Ono (!) has never let categories stand in the way of creativity. On Phosphene, during which he plays flute, saxophones and trumpet finds him sharing ideas with new associates: Minnesota-based drummer Steve Hirsh, who has worked with Steve Swell and Parker and New Zealand guitarist Sally Gates, usually found in Rock circles and has recoded with Elliott Sharp.

Consistently adapting his instruments to fit the spirited but sparse instrumentation, Carter at one point makes arching flute tones seem as a perfectly logical complement to aggressive splayed guitar riffs and careening drum ruffs. Elsewhere as his muted trumpet timbres evolve from half-valve puffs to portamento equilibrium, he corrals the others’ repetitive string shakes and aggressive drum rattles into an echoing horizontal expression.

However it’s “Dependence on ESP” whose title is most descriptive of the trio’s approach. As drum rustles and strums on unamplified guitar strings set the scene, saxophone trills slowly outline the theme. Moving up the scale with singular peeps and trills, Catter quickly intersects with slurring fingering and buzzing flanges from Gates and speedy drum clip clops. Connected reed flutters and stopped breaths eventually push all three to linear tone completion.

Somewhere there could be musicians with whom Carter wouldn’t quickly establish common ground when playing together. Happily as the high quality creativity here shows this isn’t the case here.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Tendrils 2. Orange Squares 3. Vague Geometry 4. Dependence on ESP 5. Afternoon Spiders

Personnel: Daniel Carter (alto and tenor saxophones, flute and trumpet); Sally Gates (guitar) and Steve Hirsh (drums)