CHRIS JONAS' THE SUN SPITS CHERRIES
The Vermilion
Hopscotch Records
HOP 8
A few months ago, I had the extraordinarily good fortune to experience
saxophonist / composer Chris Jonas' brand of musical alchemy first-hand.
So, I'm perhaps a bit more familiar with his methods and philosophy than
someone approaching his music for the first time on CD. A read through
Jonas' liners to The Vermilion and (of course) some careful listening
will reveal quite a bit, however.
What becomes apparent after a few minutes is that Jonas' music is neither
pure improvisation, nor is it entirely composed. It isn't by any measure
a purely linear head - solos - head sort of thing either, nor is Jonas'
music the sort where you cannot distinguish the composed from the improvised.
Instead, Jonas uses cues and conducting techniques to layer and juxtapose
composed materials, improvisations, and other forms ('cells', 'pools',
cups', etc.) to disrupt and modify patterns, habits and grooves in real
time. Just when things seem to settle, Jonas adds a line here, or strips
away a motif there, to provide a counterpoint of sorts, or reveal something
even more interesting going on underneath.
Fortunately for the listener, Jonas' instincts are golden. The brass,
piano and percussion combine and separate in interesting and unexpected
ways. Silences spring up just where you expect everyone to be playing,
or an odd melody marches proudly out of a starburst of drums and trombones.
The result, on The Vermilion is an organic, delightfully iconoclastic,
hybrid music that has as many stylistic alliances with jazz as it does
with purely improvised, and even contemporary classical music ("Prosperity,"
"Tinfoil Barb"). It's certainly no coincidence that Jonas has
worked with Anthony Braxton (as well as The Great Circle Saxophone Quartet
and William Parker's Little Huey Creative Music Ensemble), though The
Vermilion is clearly an original statement.
Jonas' music clearly benefits from the stability of his basic two trombone
plus percussion quartet. Fiedler, Washburn, and Barker have been playing
with Jonas for 3 or 4 years, and the depth of their musical communication
is readily apparent. Melford is the wild card here, and she proves to
be an able, empathetic and catalytic presence. Her playing throughout
this disc is utterly captivating, particularly on "Prosperity,"
where she sounds like two pianists playing simultaneously. Drummer Barker
seems to be the one player here whose contributions are most consistently
rooted in the jazz lineage. This music benefits greatly from his grit
and nerve, and he is tasteful and perceptive enough to leave a lot of
breathing room for the others. However, some of his densest playing ("Ottoman,"
"Tiger Barb, Fancy") prods Jonas, Washburn and Melford into
some interesting places. Jonas has a sweet, reedy, liquid tone on soprano
- it's hard to pin any comparisons on him, so I won't. Like Jonas, Melford
and Barker, both trombonists are quick thinkers, and multi-faceted improvisors.
The Vermilion is one of those discs that demands and rewards close, attentive
listening. If you are a free jazz fan (like me), it might strike you as
a bit stiff at first, but it really isn't. This music unfolds beautifully,
though never in the way you might expect. Certainly, it's one of the freshest,
most cliché-free documents I've heard from the New York avant-garde
in a long time. This CD is available from Cadence / North Country, or
directly from Hopscotch. Most Highly Recommended!!
--Dave Wayne
Track Listing: 1. Levee; 2. Ottoman; 3. Portico Line; 4. Prosperity; 5.
Amberjack; 6. Tinfoil Barb; 7. Betta; 8. Tiger Barb, Fancy
Personnel: Jonas, soprano saxophone; Melford, piano; Joe Fiedler, tenor
trombone; Chris Washburn, bass trombone; Andrew Barker, percussion