ASSIF TSHAR
and the ZOANTHROPIC ORCHESTRA
Embracing the Void
Hopscotch
9
ASSIF
TSHAR and the NEW YORK UNDERGROUND ORCHESTRA
The Labyrinth
Hopscotch
12
Different as free jazz and new music, on show here are two distinct manifestations
of the composing and arranging skills for larger groups by tenor saxophonist
Assif Tsahar. Both are engrossing, remarkably mature, compositional works
for someone best known for his impassioned blowing with the likes of bassist
William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake.
Embracing
the Void has a slight edge however. That's because all 14 members of the
Zoanthropic Orchestra appear better able to personalize the emotional
cauldron of Tsahar avant jazz pieces than the 19 musicians of the New
York Underground Orchestra can contour The Labyrinth into a more original
form.
Void's
clearest antecedent seems to be The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (JCO)'s
1968 Communications LP. Designed by Mike Mantler to showcase new thing
soloists such as cornetist Don Cherry, tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders
and pianist Cecil Taylor, it proved that heartfelt experimental music
wasn't confined to small groups.
Tsahar,
who was born in Israel the year after that JCO session was taped, and
arrived in New York in 1990, has the same idea, but his 10-part, personalized
suite is much more democratic. Nearly every one of the musicians gets
a chance to solo here. More to the point, all of the music written by
Tsahar appears to be intricately arranged so that each part meshes with
the next.
Framed by
squealing, post-Ayler solos by the tenor man in the first and -- in altissimo
-or even sopranino pitch -- the final number, the almost 56-minute composition
balances elements of jazz and other traditions with expressive atonality.
Sometimes, as on "Part 3," the music will contain Balkan and
Klezmer components, mixed with some high frequency piano chording from
pianist Craig Taborn, whinnying trumpet from Matt Lavelle and cellar deep
blasts from Reut Regev's trombone.
With
the other 'bone chairs filled by Curtis Hasselbring and Steve Swell, the
Zoanthropic has a section reminiscent of Duke Ellington's famed group,
with any of the three able to express the restrained elegance of Lawrence
Brown as well as more so-called primitive tones. Swell, a fixture in advanced
Manhattan bands, is especially able to slide through a variety of plunger-affixed
positions, creating a 1920s "Jungle" sound like a Internet age
Tricky Sam Nanton.
Later
on, a section with Mingus-like Holiness church boogie rhythm finds Swell
and another Israeli-born downtowner, alto saxophonist Ori Kaplan, trading
licks after the saxman has finished a screeching, triple tonguing solo,
and as the band builds to a crescendo behind him. The piece also gives
bassist Tom Abbs, Jump Arts mainman, enough breadth to individually sound
out stinging arco notes.
When
he wants to, Taborn, who has earned his spurs with reedist Roscoe Mitchell
and altoist Tim Berne, can speed skate over the keys like a young Cecil
Taylor. Other times he can be overtly bluesy, as on "Part 9"
when he sets up tenor saxophonist Aaron Stewart's floating mid-period
John Coltranish solo. Stewart, part of the Fieldwork trio and sideman
of choice for veteran pianist Andrew Hill, enlivens his outing with mid-range
honks and extended techniques, centred on hissing air through his horn.
Elsewhere
on the reed front, baritone saxophonist Alex Harding, a sometime Arkestra
member gets to exhibit his dual identities on "Part 4." At one
point his tone is as mellow and well-modulated as Gerry Mulligan in his
West Coast days, a few bars later he's digging up the building's foundations
with his reed, spewing out multiphonics as he smears his notes, nearly
duking it out with the brass section.
As
the band meanders from Basie to Boulez and back again, often you'll note
meticulously arranged unison passages playing off against a moving bass
line, or hear the entire band creeping along behind the soloist. Gold
Sparkle Band drummer Andrew Barker creates Sunny Murray-like polyrhythms
one minute and produces varsity football half-time marching tempos --
complete with rim shots -- a few tracks later. POMO eclecticism is on
tap as well on "Part 5," which features Oscar Noriega, who has
worked with pianist Satoko Fujii producing tongue-slapping Eric Dolphy
emulations from his bass clarinet. Meanwhile, Anthony Braxton-associate
cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum cuts across the band's massed stop time tutti
with a screeching Cat Anderson-like tone.
Distressingly,
a year later when Tsahar relocated from Manhattan to Brooklyn to conduct
the New York Underground Orchestra through his sprawling, nearly 721/2-minute
"The Labyrinth," it seems that some of these players weren't
available. In addition, three violinists, two violists, two cellists and
three bassists joined the band, with the woodwinds confined to flutes
and clarinets. The result seems more self-consciously philharmonic than,
say jazz-classical. Plus many of the additional tones are muffled in the
recording or the mix.
Not that there isn't impressive work here as well. Early on, trombonist
Regev who on the earlier CD seems to be an adherent of the gritty Al Grey
school creates some elegant muted passages in front of pulsating strings
and horns. This symphonic backing don't prevent Noriega's bass clarinet
to indulge in enough multiphonics to twist the strings echoing aviary
tones. Later on, Charles Waters, another Gold Sparkle Band member, uses
the string section sawing in the background to cushion a clean, clear
clarinet solo that comes out half-Benny Goodman and half-Ornette Coleman
(if the later ever played the licorice
stick). And trumpeter Nate Wooley, although surrounded by a larger string
section than in some of Stan Kenton's more bloated orchestras, manages
to at least push the orchestra into some conventional swinging passages.Deficiency
doesn't rest with the soloists. It's the orchestral passages, that with
this string-heavy configuration, seems to meander from Debussy-like preciousness
to New music bleakness to near-static minimalism. Tsahar's conduction
and writing on "The 5th Path" tries to work out of this conundrum.
Muted -- or is it muffled? -- trumpet passages from Lavelle initially
displayed on top of unvarying pizzicato pluck from the strings, are soon
joined by Wooley for a dramatic fanfare which encompasses rooster crows
and plunger work. As the strings move from diminuendo to crescendo and
back, both brassmen create a stop time pulse as Tatsuya Nakatani showcases
vibes, wood block and other unconventional percussion sounds.
Another time sweet violin and cello lines follow a brass choir intro that
gives way to pealing percussion and the odd bass clarinet accent. Yet
the andante motion seems merely movement for its own sake. On the last
track are Jonah Sacks' mournful cello presages, Impressionistic strings,
twittering flutes and a clarinet and bass clarinet that seem to be trading
fours oblivious of what's unrolling around them. Finally, an exaggerated,
extended pianissimo chord is grasped by the reeds and horns until it fades
away.
While re-creators -- read copyists -- like Wynton Marsalis, receive awards
for using orchestral resources to calcify the tradition, innovators like
Tsahar are trying to do something more with larger ensembles. Obviously
he doesn't succeed every time. Plus there is some inexcusable sloppiness
on the first disc's booklet, where performers' names are spelled incorrectly.
They're correct below.
However, without trying to be hyperbolic, from the evidence here it would
seem that one Tsahar almost-failure could be worth a few Marsalis so-called
successes. Despite it's weaknesses, The Labyrinth offers some thought-provoking
music and Embracing the Void is a definite triumph. What more could a
musically questing composer want?
-- Ken Waxman
Track Listing Embracing the Void: 1. Embracing the Void Part 1; 2. Embracing
the Void Part 2; 3. Embracing the Void Part 3; 4. Embracing the Void Part
4; 5. Embracing the Void Part 5; 6. Embracing the Void Part 6; 7. Embracing
the Void Part 7; 8. Embracing the Void Part 8; 9. Embracing the Void Part
9; 10. Embracing the Void Part 10
Track Listing The Labyrinth: 1. The lst Path; 2. The 2nd Path; 3. The
3rd Path; 4. The 4th Path; 5. The 5th Path; 6. The 6th Path; 7. The 7th
Path; 8. The 8th Path; 9. The 9th Path; 10. The 10th Path
Personnel
Embracing the Void: Taylor Ho Bynum, Matt Lavelle, Antoine Brye, trumpets;
Curtis Hasselbring, Steve Swell and Reut Regev, trombones; Ori Kaplan,
alto saxophone; Aaron Stewart, Assif Tsahar, tenor saxophones; Alex Harding,
baritone saxophone; Oscar Noriega, bass clarinet and alto saxophone; Craig
Taborn, piano; Tom Abbs, bass; Andrew Barker, drums
Personnel
The Labyrinth: Matt Lavelle, Nate Wooley, Marianne Giosa, trumpets; Reut
Regev, trombone; Charles Walter, clarinet; Oscar Noriega, bass clarinet;
Sabine Arnaud, Muriel Vergnaud, flutes; Melinda Rice, Jean Cook, Katie
Pawluk, violins; Stephanie Griffin, Jessica Pavone, violas; Okkyung Lee,
Jonah Sacks, cellos; Terrence Murren, Byrne Klay, Todd Nicholson, basses;
Tatsuya Nakatani, percussion; Assif Tsahar, conduction