Well, if you’ve been missing those old 70s and 80s albums from ECM that had a mix of experimentation, virtuosity and celebration, you’re in for a treat. Jack DeJohnette formed a Reunion Committee and got together old buddies Muhal Abrams/p, Roscoe Mitchell/reeds, Henry Threadgill/reeds and Larry Gray/b-cel for a celebration at the 2013 Chicago Festival. Whew!!
As expected, most of the songs clock in at 12-17 minutes with even the band announcements almost taking 4 minutes. These guys are STRETCHING OUT! The leader does some wonders with Gray with a drum workshop on “Jack 5” while flapping like a hummingbird on the ride cymbal on “Leave, Don’t Go” while playful altos and sopraninos wail and sing. Abrams’ glissando piano starts whirling while the reeds buzz like the locust scene in The Good Earth on “Museum of Time.” Eerie recorders and murky flutes are featured on the elliptical “This” and the serpentine “Chant” hums like bees around a hive on the repetitive riff during “Chant.” Exciting, irreverent and yet serious all in the same breath. Welcome back!
ECM Records