Andrea Centazzo, Perry Robinson, Nobu Stowe, Soul in the Mist, 2006

Nothing is simple today. Except that good and great music continues to be made. It continues to be recorded and made available to us all. And that writers like me continue to review it. You could think of that as ordinary or you could think of that as heroic. It depends on the place and situation involved. But it is by no means an easy task to do that and survive today, if it ever was.

So today we have another example of all that. Recorded in Trumpet's Jazz Club in Montclair, NJ, in 2006. It is what turns out to be an excellent grouping of Andrea Centazzo on percussion, the Mallet Kat keyboard and sampling; Perry Robinson on clarinet; and Nobu Stowe on piano. The compositional framework is Centazzo's. The album is called, poetically, The Soul in the Mist (Konnex-Ictus).

What we have are eight selections, modern-avant-minimal charts by Centazzo with room for the free improv for which these players are known.

Perry Robinson sounds especially good. I can't recall a time when he didn't but in the trio setting here there is plenty of space for him and both structure and freedom as jettison points from which to take off. And he does. Andreas has space as well to get the innovative full-spectrum sounds you expect from him, and the compositions bring out the sensitive exploratory side of his music to the max. Nobu Stowe puts in a very well conceived performance here, too.

In the end it's especially about Perry Robinson's clarinet though. This is one of his best showings of later years. He is superb.

Confusion Bleue, Total Improvisations, 2007

I covered several weeks ago a newer re- cording by Con- fusion Bleue (see index). Today we go back a little to an earlier recording made by the unit, a studio date from 2007. Total Improvisation (Soul Note) is a disk with some very good moments of collective and individual contributions, all spontaneously improvised except a version of Miles' "Blue in Green."

The rhythm section of Ray Sage (drums) and Tyler Goodwin (bass) is busy, tumultuous, hot, setting the stage well for Ross Bonadonna on guitars and Nobu Stowe on piano and electric piano. As on the later disk Lee Pembleton handles the live mix in ways that occasionally give an expanded electro-acoustic dimension to the sound.

Stowe is in a very varied mood for the date, covering rubato expressiveness, all-over chargings forward, rock-jazz straight-eight and areas in between. Ross gets some beautiful noting in, has a pronounced electricity when needed and adds a little alto sax too that does not detract.

And in the end one is especially impressed with the many places this music goes and the leverage that makes most of the forays kickingly valuable. A mostly great set from a band I wish we could hear again!

Confusion Bleue, Roulette Concert

Confusion Bleue is the collective effort of four talented improvisers (three plus guest), an exacting live-mix sound man, plus you, the listener. Specifically there is Nobu Stowe on piano and electric pianos, Ross Bonnadonna on electric and acoustic guitars plus alto and bass clarinet, Ray Sage on drums, Lee Pembleton on sound, and for the album at hand, Roulette Concert (Ictus 165), guest Chris Kelsey on soprano.

The album was made in the course of a gig at the Roulette in New York, 2010. Hence the title. There are four fully improvised sequences, the third based on Miles' "Blue in Green."

That having been said, let's turn to the music. What to say? There is excellent rapport throughout. Nobu Stowe is an all-encompassing presence, running the gamut from post-Taylor fanfares to wildly inventive chromatic extensions, outly dissonant rock riffing and undulating, driving tonal tangents. Chris Kelsey is blazing it up whatever is happening. He is fired up and letting it all go on this set. Lee Bonnadonna plays some very effective guitar in an in-and-out zone. He will give you a second voice with his reedwork as well, though I find his guitar playing the main attraction. And Ray Sage is hitting it with tumbling smartness and cooking looseness.

This is a very able and flexible outfit. They are captured on a good night, too. The "Blue and Green" improvs break up the set with unexpected tonal freedoms, even a little Bachian counterpoint before a burlesque of good humor. It all makes the time fly on the ear end.

One thing I like about this band that night is that they let themselves go without reservations, even if it ends up in stylistic territory not expected of "free" players. They go wherever it seems right at the moment and so you get combinations you might not expect in avant jazz. But then they do the "purely out" with dedication and fluidity to satisfy the "heavy energy" cravers (like me) fully.

As I listened over time I was reminded of the "wherever it needs to go" resolve of a Dave Burrell. This band has that sort of ranginess.

So it's good to hear this one. Creativity cannot and will not be suppressed! This evening at the Roulette was anything but (supressed, that is). Great sound. And fun, too! Bravo.