with his booming bass. "Celtic Carati~BothSuks oft/i4 Same Mirror, bait
lypso" begins. tribally with Afri- . · gained i~ place alongside the Hamptoa..'
can percussion-its anthemic
Hawes/Charlie Haden disc, Ar Leng Ai .
Nine Winds NWCD 0132
\
strains recalling Omctte arid .. · There's Music, as my favorite piano/baS&;·
Sonny Simmons. Sam~
duet record of the last decade. What a joy.·
PAUL PLIMLEY/
solos with a ccmpletely
to hear a pianist who's ready to deal withLYLE ELLIS DUO
different feel-main-:
Cecil Taylor! Plirnley has garnered ~ ·
Taylor an organizational sense and will;;.'.
stream-ish,Jim Hall-ish. On
"Pacific Leen Time," a
ingness to try unexpected twists of the
1t~11~1:\: :;:\:i••·· · ·
minimalist theme is fleshed out by
melodic line. His playing is not what yoa
Nine Winds NWCD 013S
the riffing horn of Coate Cooke and the
could call conventional. yet it is not in-;
parade drumming of Gregg Simpson,
timidating in the same way that Taylor's
These two all-digital discs, released
whose tom-tom work is outstanding.
is.
on Vinny Golia's Nine Winds label, set a
"Symbolist Waltz" is a wispy 3/4 piece,
Ellis ha., developed an incredible arstandard that other independent labels
ruminative and probing, in which .time
ray of sounds from his gut-string, double
should aspire to. This is the mainstream
becomes elastic. Once again the virtuosity
bass-booming and macho, when neces;..
jazz of the '90s.
of the players makes everything work.
sary, with effortless shifts _to arco or
Both discs feature Vancouver, B.C.
"Brooklyn" begins with bass, drums and
scratches on the strings. His work with.
musicians. For those familiar with the
AM radio: "Dale Ellis, Derek Mi:Key,...
Paul Bley, Cecil T;iylor and Marilyn
Canadian jazz scene, these discs affirm
the announcer proclaims over a bas~
Crispell has proven to be the perfect
the quality of musicians there and the
ostinato. John Cage is well served, and the
schooling for this endeavor.
vibraocy of their music. For the unfamiltune talces a Latin tum, mambo-ing by in
The compositions are emotionally
iar, the recordings point to Vancouver as
my imagination.
(ContuwedpJ6)
a place to watch.
"Strange Air" finishes this amazing 1
Recorded live by Doug Harre (not
disc with a stroke of originality. Sounding \
credited on disc) at an Earshot concert at
like a thousand folk tunes you've heard 1
the New City Theate.r in Seaule, Lunar
before ("Frankie and Johnny" comes to . !
Adventures offers an hour of highly
mind), the group builds momentum: like a·
charged improvisations thatare telepathic
sandstorm coming at you from across the
(¢01tlin~dfrompJ5)-. - ....
and far-reaching in their influences.
desert. Samworth's guitar synth provides
breathtaking.
''Moving ~ g h
Orneuc C olern an' s classic quartet may
an eerie wash of white noise, underpinthe
Twin
Entrances
of Light" is
have been an inspiration, but the group
ning Cooke's Omette-like sol0;.
at
the
time
helter-skelter
has built on those beginnings to forge a
· Lunar Adventures is one of the most •
and bomlxistic-lushandromansound all their own.
·
interesting ensembles to,emage from our
tic. Plimley 's chordal interludes arc
"Just Ask" kicks off the disc, remineck of the woods in a long while- They
incredible;
the energy is contagious;
niscent of Chicago's innovative Associamerge the way-out-West sound with
and
the
virtuosity
is stunning. Jimi
tion for the Advancement of Creative
Broadway. Remembez the map that the
Hendrix's 'Third Stone from the Sun"
Musicians. Ron Samworth's wigglyNew Yorker published years ago, showing
receives a masterful arrangement It's essquiggly guitar solo is amazing, and Clyde
the WestCoastjustafew stepsdown42nd ·
pecially
telepathic, with Ellis portraying
Reed-a virtuoso straight from the Charlie
Street? Well, there may have been so~
the
sound
of the Malian hunter's guitar
Haden/Buster Williams/Ron Carter school
thing to it
(doussn gouni). Plimley, a noted malleteer,
of full-bodied rich sound-sets the tone
The Paul Plirnley/Lyle Ellis collaboadds marimba on "Refections of a Persistent Mirage," and Ellis again sounds very
African. Truly music for a global village.
I
EARSHOT JAZZ MEMBERSHgt FORM . . :
These two discs contain everything I
listen to music for. The compositions and
A $25 basic membership in Earshot brings the newsletter to your door and entill~
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you to discounts at Bud's Jazz Records and all Earshot ~vents. Your membership
are virtuoso, and I'm left wi!h the feeling
helps support our educational programs and concert senes.
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LUNAR ADVENTURES

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