Toyozumi/Bates/Countryman

For nearly a decade Philippines-based American alto saxophonist Rick Countryman and veteran Japanese drummer Sabu Toyozumi have created a duo partnership working with other Free Jazz musicians in the Far East. This Sunday variant of Lovely Tago has the two improvising alongside yet another player, Kuala Lumpur-based electric upright bassist Richard Allan Bates, a Hong Kong born Brit.

Involved with promoting creative Malaysian musicians as well as playing, electric impulses from Bates’ instrument are secondary. He mostly uses voltage to  project grounded cadences, and when given solo space  work his way up and down the scale with plucks and rubs, spiccato bounces or sul ponticello intensity. Inventive as always, Toyozumi’s contributions include percussion techniques encompassing cymbal  splashes, auxiliary drum shakes, rim shot pops, cadenced shuffles and woody drum stick resonations.

With the eight tracks projecting moods where every adventurous and technical avenue is explored from overriding menace to herky-jerky motions plus multiphonic pressure and release, Toyozumi uses percussion qualities to intersect with Countryman’s narratives. Split tones, ascending tweets, corkscrew smears and expanded theme variations figure into the saxophonist’s expositions, with enough timbral detours and asides to keep the pieces full of surprises.

While most tracks evolve at prestissimo tempos, filled with dog whistle-like reed squeal, dark percussion ruffs and widening bass pressure, the trio also shows its flexibility on a track like “First Bird For Trio” by tempering the narrative at a slow-moving tempo. Carefully paced drum beats and a horizontal electric bass line mean Countryman’s thin whistles and harsh honks become part of a more meditative narrative.

Masterfully blending ecstatic, posed and somewhat onomatopoeic qualities in free-flowing improvisations, the three often reach a compromise between cutting edge and communication. Their concentrated on-site efforts confirm that intense creative music is being made all over the world, sometimes in the most unexpected places.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1.The Boy Asked a Lot of Questions 2. Yogurt, Bananas, Cinnamon 3. First Bird For Trio 4.  Full Moon Ending, Full Moon Beginning 5.  Mosquito Ghost 6. When The Cheese Is Good 7. Out Of The Box – Sanju 8.  Batangas Barako Through A Cone Filter

Personnel: Rick Countryman (alto saxophone);  Richard Allan Bates (electric upright bass) and Sabu Toyozumi (drums)