Jorrit Dijkstra

Although defined as a session dedicated to microtonal tuning and echoes of gamelan, high life and Delta Blues the references here seems more attuned to Ornette Coleman’s harmolodic bands. Not that it’s a detriment, for it places the quintet firmly in role of sound explorers. The Boston-area group is led by Dutch-born alto saxophonist Jorrit Dijkstra, who has played with musicians ranging from  Taylor Ho Bynum to John Hollenbeck. It includes percussionist Eric Rosenthal, bass guitarist Nate McBride and the dual guitarists of Eric Hofbauer and Gabe Boyarin, who among them have been associated with Curt Newton, Damon Smith and Pandelis Karayorgis.

That said a straight compositional line advances from “Rub”, the first track, all the way to the final and seventh “Trans”, with the latter arguably expressing the group’s ethos at its most defined. On that tune consistent drum beats and cymbal slaps mated with bass guitar pulses maintains a sprawling backbeat as intensified guitar frails and string scratches isolate Blues inflections along with passionate trills and rugged split tones from the saxophonist.

Other than that the band is at its best when dealing with swift expositions mixing reed braying, tremolo stabs from the guitars and in the case of “Shape” patterns projecting harder and more stinging string work each time. Another instance of this is the allegro treatment of the extended and appropriately titled “Hop”, where Dijkstra’s jittery and spiky reed squeezes are echoed by frenetic string picking as the guitarists scramble to keep up with reed undulating and Rosenthal’s drum whaps and cymbal splashes. As the saxophonist worries the same note over and over, string lead moves from one guitarist to the other , leading to a group tutti climax.

Slowing and more atmospheric sequences aren’t as notable, since this is often where a combination of contrapuntal string plinks and frails plus linear reed patterns seem to lack energy.

Overall though BLINK creates animated sounds that can’t be blinked at whether defined as microtonal, harmolodic or improv Jazz.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Rub 2. Yet 3. Hop 4. Shape 5. Stretch 6. Pulse 7. Trans

Personnel: Jorrit Dijkstra (alto saxophone); Eric Hofbauer and Gabe Boyarin (guitars); Nate McBride (bass guitar) and Eric Rosenthal (drums and percussion)