Ethnic Stew and Brew by Roy Campbell The Shell Game by Tim Berne
Two contemporary offerings of fairly "authentic," non-uptown, post-everything jazz. First is the latest outing by the Pyramid Trio, led by trumpeter Roy Campbell, who's probably the best going these days, carrying on the tradition of Don Cherry among others. Campbell also plays in Other Dimensions in Music, as does bass player William Parker. He also plays in Parker's large ensemble, the Little Huey Orchestra, and these two have forged a musical brotherhood that goes back to 1978, when they met during the days when the loft scene was still going at full bore. These guys are kind of the carriers-on of that tradition of improvised jamming with a distinctly nonmainstream frame of reference.
Obviously being in three groups of some distinction, Campbell is a versatile musician, but even though he describes the Pyramid Trio as being "about world music with a touch of jazz," you really won't notice that much difference between the seven ethnically tinged pieces here and the primal skronking workouts of Other Dimensions. These guys may be flying solely on their own fuels but they seldom?if ever?play it "straight." If anything I would compare this stuff to such 70s late-night seance-holders as Ahmed Abdullah and early David Murray.
"Malcolm, Martin and Mandela" is a standout track featuring a great bass riff from Parker that propels this to an almost Art Ensemble of Chicago level of funkiness about the time they were beginning their "world music" phase (around the time of Third Decade). It's great stuff, with trumpet as the main instrumental voice, and Campbell is an incredibly adept purveyor of melodic phrasing that really carries a tune home (the big difference between him and a lot of other pretenders who skronk along soullessly and seldom produce anything "memorable"). I would stack this up against any other "free"/improv work of the past 20 years without reservation. Campbell even follows in the Cherry tradition by jamming on Cherry's fave?and Miles Davis' least fave?instrument, the "pocket trumpet." Muted sounds make up half of "Imhotep," while the other half is Freddie Hubbard moods indigo. The Pyramid Trio also has an excellent drummer in Hamid Drake, who really drives the riffing of Campbell and Parker with a rumble-in-the-jungle that ain't no mere clip-clop.
Speaking of trio records, the new Tim Berne album, The Shell Game, ain't bad either. Part of Thirsty Ear's ongoing "blue" series?which so far has produced nothing but shimmering results?this record features saxophonist Berne accompanied by drummer Tom Rainey and Craig Taborn on keyboards/electronics. The addition of Taborn marks this as a postmodern experiment by default, but fortunately the electronic boogity-boo doesn't usurp the jazz intent of the LP. As an instrumentalist, Berne is a capable improviser, as the flurry of notes on tracks like "Twisted/Straight Jacket" proves. Sometimes this verges into almost Mahavishnu territory thanks to the rolling Bitches Brew-influenced keyboards of Taborn. Otherwise the polymorphous cloud of electro-clank with twinges of jazz-blat puts this somewhere in the category of the albums William Hooker made for Homestead in the mid-90s (Radiation, etc.). In any event, it's not a bad thing to be submerged in.