Rodrigo Amado, This is Our Language

When the Portuguese avant jazz titan tenorist Rodrigo Amado fields a quartet of edgy all-stars, what do you get? You get This is Our Language (Not Two MW 922-2). And that translates to some great music. It's Rodrigo with the extraordinarily capable vets Joe McPhee on pocket trumpet and alto sax, Kent Kessler on double bass and Chris Corsano on drums.

This is a moderated free-for-all, a series of solos, duets, trios and full-band performances, with an emphasis on the latter. All four most certainly know what they are about. And they generate some exceptional kinetics. Rodrigo is inspired to create blazing mottos and sonic-expressive outburst that show him fully together, a mature artists in full bloom. Joe McPhee with both trumpet and alto brings his "A" game of ideas and lets loose with a space clearing vibrancy perfectly attuned to Amado's outbursts. Kent Kessler is a dynamo of bass energy and a very cohesive voice in the ensemble. And Chris Corsano has that raw-but-schooled explosiveness and timbral breath that spurs all forward.

It's all you could hope for in a spontaneous meeting of these four. The chemistry is all very much there. So much so that this is some of the best work of all four...and as a quartet, look out! This is one heavy quartet and Rodrigo should be proud to have brought this together so excitingly.

I recommend this album to anybody and everybody. Newcomers to Amado, newcomers to free avant, or those who know these four very well. The pump is primed and the musical riches flow abundantly and creatively. Oh, yes, it does!

Francois Carrier, Unknowable, with Michel Lambert and Rafal Mazur

The work of Francois Carrier, accomplished alto saxist and free-avant bandleader, has been gaining momentum in recent years. He is playing some great music these days, which is evident from listening to his recent CD Unknowable (Not Two 928-2). It is a live date from the Alchemia Jazz Klub, Krakow, Poland, recorded last year. Joining him is Michel Lambert, a driving force and long-time associate of Francois' on drums, and the busy, vibrant Rafal Mazur on doublebass.

The music is spontaneous, free, without compositional guidelines yet structured by the logic and inspiration of the trio. Bass and drums are dynamic and engaged in the best ways throughout.

And Francois on both alto and Chinese oboe has an irresistible flow to his playing. What strikes me especially lately is how lucid his improvisations have become. You hear the musical-logical inevitability of his note weaving as free and spontaneous, yet you follow the lines and you hear a compositional sensibility in what he does. The mark of a great player of course is partly this, that anything they do has the stamp of a personal force.

This live date gives you an exciting journey into free music with hairpin turns, full acceleration and expert maneuvering from the threesome.

Unknowable is a must-not-miss recording for all who appreciate the free modernism that is very much alive and flourishing today.

William Hooker, Heart of the Sun

William Hooker is a free-drummer of great, dramatic dynamics, a player with real fire and, increasingly, a bandleader of importance. All this can be heard to good advantage on his new one, Heart of the Sun (Engine 051). It's a live set recorded at the Roulette this past February. Hooker presents his music on this outing with a trio that roars, whispers and incants its way into your soul, soul-to-soul.

The ever-significant Roy Campbell puts some serious trumpet heat into the musical cauldron in a way only he can do. He is glowing. On open horn he gives us a clarion call. On mute he extends his sound with smarts and flair. And his flute playing is quite decent and definitely worth your eartime. An unusual touch comes from David Soldier on violin, banjo and guitar, who is filled with the spirit and colors the ensemble nicely. His banjo playing brings some roots into the picture in very hip ways.

William Hooker sounds his always creative, busy, virtuoso driving self here with some of his very best drumming on disk.

It's new new thing all the way with some nice head melodies and supreme free fire-breathing. Heart of the Sun flames your way with excellent sound! You can heat your pad with this one, honest. Check it out.