A new cache of improvisatory music from Leo Records has hit the streets.
The Blazing Flame Quintet/6 consists of Steve Day/voc-perc, Peter Evans/vi, Mark Langford/ts-bcl, David Mowat/tp, KJulian Dale/b-cel-voc and Marco Anderson/dr-perc. The eight atmospheric pieces have a mix of brooding bass clarinet and muted trumpet on 
the dreamy “Snap Shots of the Boy” and dark horns and funky drumming featured on “He’s Crazy.” Voices and percussion get frisky on “Back Into The High Tide We Go” and the stretching “Brutus and Caesar” with a collection of pops, snaps and mouthpiece effects buzzing by on “Regular Queens With Three Stray Horns.” All songs are first takes, 
adding to the surprise and free atmosphere.
Christo Mahnig plays trumpet, flugelhorn, pocket trumpet and supplies the compositions, co-leading with guitarist Laurent Meteau and a supporting rhythm section of Rafael Jerjen/b and Emanuel Kunzi/dr on 9 accessible pieces. A bit of No beat and trumpet growling takes plase o n’Eric’s Breakfast” and the back beat of “Erst dke Arbeit…” with a hammering staccato getting relentless for “Three Pictures, Part II.” Jerjen lays down a nice groove for “Zu Neuen Ufern” and staggers with the leader on “A Piece of Cake” with some space moods conjured up on “Twilight” thanks to Meteau’s guitar. Rich pastiches.
The trio Oogui is made up of Flrence Melnotte/p-key-voc, Vinz Vollanther/g-voc and Sylvain Fournier/dr-perc-voc, with a lot of big sounds coming out of this little combo. A hard hitting Mission Impossible-type theme starts things off with “Mupulupu” and a mix of pretty voices make “Grugenbulles” highly attractive. Some striding piano on “Sprung” and whispering keys make “Fouirnibus” alluring, but the team shows its funky side with Fournier getting the backbeat for the shuffling “Gagotato” and hip “Melnottika.” Seems like the soundtrack for a Bourne Identity film.
Ivo Perelman brings his tenor to a pair of “string” albums. The first, Strings 3 has him in the company of viola player Mat Maneri and trumpeter Nate Wooley for eleven improvs. Perelman has abandoned song titles, sticking to numbers, featuring his patented wheeze on “2” and sighing wih Wooley for “8.” Maneri scratches through “1” and “9” with some scowling horn for “7” and not squeezing on “4.” Scurrying sounds.
Strings 4 has pianist Matthew Shipp joining the team, and he adds some melancholy textures to “Part 3” and tentative bop forms on “Part 5.” Perelman is quite lyrical on the loose “Part 1” while slurping and popping on the concise “Part 2” fluttering like a pigeon for “Part 4.” Maneri bows and picks his spots as on “Part 9” and “Part 8” slicing and dicing like a Vegematic. Bending and snapping like Reese Witherspoon.