Thoughts about breathing.
David Binney based his nonet presentation on twisty sax lines, filled out by three drummers. Everybody could play like demons, especially 8-foot Steve Lehman, whose circular breathing, leapfrog improvisations and textural distinctiveness have made him a star on an instrument with a long history of genius practitioners -- it's a tribute that top alto saxists such as Binney and Anthony Braxton have thought Lehman had something to add on the same horn. Overall, the music, though at times possessing the modern beauty of a Klee drawing, was like water from a fire hose: standing up to it took stamina.
Chicago's Makaya McCraven based his quintet presentation on his own tight multirhythm drum compositions, filled out by Jeff Parker's spacy guitar and Greg Spero's keyboard atmospherics. Thing was, McCraven proved a show all by himself. As much as the brilliant Joel Ross' confident, hard-sparking vibraphone made for a sympathetic foil, he and the stickman blasted all the air off the stage. Max Gerl's essentialist, cavern-toned work on standup bass showed that he understood the value of space, but for every beat he subtracted, 10 were waiting to rush in.
A couple of decades back with his band Tortoise, Chicago pard Jeff Parker helped found the jamband movement, dedicated to the proposition of relax-and-dance. Both Binney and McCraven were more like chug-coffee-and-do-calculus. The music shared a vibe with Miles Davis' uncharacteristic 1965 "Live at the Plugged Nickel" recordings (made in Chicago!), where Miles whipped Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams through double-time takes on "If I Were a Bell" and "Walkin'" (more like "Sprintin'"). Ornette Coleman's "Free Jazz" and John Coltrane's "Ascension" proved that you can play a lot of notes and still surge, still breathe. But maybe there's not much Future in breathin'.
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A deep bow to Rocco Somazzi and Angel City Arts for yet another exciting, unpredictable outing in the Jazz Festival's 12th year. People, listen up.
PHOTO BY FUZZY BAROQUE.