Friday, January 4, 2013

Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut-Marcus Cummins, Cannibal Love (The Field Recordings)

Because of a chance encounter with certain recordings, I used to think of Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut as a kind of Eddie Condon of the free-avant improv scene. That is, that he was an excellent organizer of sessions with good people, had a way of getting good results and produced a music, in this case of avant-free jazz, of exemplary purity.

All that was true of the couple of live albums I happened to first listen to, but I've been hearing other things now and realize I was wrong. Jeffrey is also a multi-instrumentalist who can play.

Today I am covering one he did as a duet with Marcus Cummins: Cannibal Love (The Field Recordings) (ABRI). It's a very adventurous live set with Cummins at the soprano, Shurdut on piano. It gives you a very good chance to hear Shurdut's pianoforte style close-up as well as Cummins' sax work.

Jeffrey shows himself here as a very energetic post-Taylorian exponent, keyed well into Cummins' equally noteful soprano expositions. It's a fine example of energy music in mostly high gear and showcases their interactions nicely.

No comments:

Post a Comment