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Works:
Signs and Intimations of Immortality
„The
music on this album is an expression reflecting the belief
that from time to time we are called upon, like a snake,
to shed the skins which embody our past achievements
and failures....The ancients saw the shedding of the skin
by the snake as symbolic of immortality „ said Ed
Schuller, explaining the title of his latest work,
Snake Dancing.
Schuller’s albums convinced up until now by their ever
distinctive, rhythmic-melodic compositions, with brilliant
improvising by the musicians in an ambience of parenthetical
power.The Force (Tutu 888 166) is rightly
considered a further development from its predecessor Mu-Point
(Tutu 888 154). With its spectrum of sound colours it
achieves new summits. In old maestro Paul Motian’s
place, the towering young Jim Black hits the limelight...
If Motian’s drumming was quite obviously an experience
in itself, Jim Black’s - in another, more bizarre fashion
- is simply breathtaking."Black seems to spill over
from his sheer abundance of ideas..." the Dresdner
Neuesten Nachrichten reports.
Therefore it’s no surprise that on this present album,
it’s another child prodigy on the drums, Ronnie
Burrage himself. His high precision drumming is almost
like a Swiss watch, people marvel at his virtuosity, his
versatility interlocks with that of Ed Schuller’s in
congenial fashion.
To extemporise on and embroider his complex bass riffs,
Schuller brings together old comrades; ex-Defunkt electric
lead guitarist Bill Bickford, as also Gary
Valente, are part of his workin’ group. Valente’s
archetypal, original trombone playing, he never-the-less
continually masterminds. Both pick up congenially on Schuller’s
ideas. New to the band is Mack Goldsbury, who takes
the place of Dewey Redman with ease and sovereignty.
And so they don’t just play crisp, free, funky pieces
with an emphatic groove, but also intricate ballads and
mini Jazz-Suites, reminiscent of Schuller’s family
tradition and his debut album The Eleventh Hour (Tutu
888 124). Archaic and sophisticated at once, this
music is distinguished by the friction of sound colours,
variegated rhythms and their startling dynamics...magic
moments like the unexpected shimmer of a snake’s skin
in the tropical sun as it dances from rock to crevice...
That it’s the bass player who’s band leader and
chief composer, and charters directions here is palpable
at all times. The album bears the signature of Ed Schuller.
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