TEASE FOR TWO…
WC Anderson plays the drums while Chad Flower blows on conventional saxes such as the alto, tenor and baritone as well as the more obscure sopranino, C Melody and Saxello on this mix of intuitive conversations. The shrill sopranino sears through the title piece, with the Saxello growling over Anderson’s cymbals on “Corner”. There are a few bopping moments with Fowler’s alto bopping over “Here”, “Deranged” and the bluesy “Inches” but otherwise the mouthpieces get a workout on the reed splitting “Trickster” and “Marker”. A white knuckler.
The two piano team of Ran Blake and Frank Carlberg create 176 keys of various moods, ranging from an easy swing of “Bebopper” to a full fisted “Tea For Two”. The two create some bouncy plunks on “Wish I Could Talk To You Baby” and give a kaleidoscopic twist to George Russell’s “Stratusphunk”. A Satie-esque “Dr. Mabuse” and dark lurk of “Vradiazi” go into semi-classical turf, while the team is playful on Billy Strayhorn’s “Take The A Train”. The songs themselves clock in between just under 2 minutes to a bit under 6, with the strides right on “Round Midnight”. Mood moments.
Free flowing sounds and ideas go back and forth with these improvs by Carlos Nino on percussion/dj and Miguel Atwood bringing in strings, keyboards and things that go bump in the night. The album consists of an 8 Part Roman numeral’d suite that goes from tropical ambient with synth and percussion on “Part 1” to pan flutes and splashy chords on “Part II”. Tropical hoops and whoops with Rain Forest sounds make up II-V” with a synthesized choir leading to a space landing on “Part VIII”. Sub tropic tones.