It had been some years since this reviewer had heard anything of Vandermark's work, the last also a largish ensemble, 2003's Airports for Light. At that time, at least in that aspect of his music, Vandermark was clearly acknowledging the growing influence of musicians operating in the field known as eai (electro-acoustic improvisation) although, even then, there was more a sense of dabbling than any commitment. Well, that apparently was indeed a passing fancy as, with Kafka in Flight, he's back in well-trodden territory of the sort he, more or less, developed with his own groups like the Vandermark Five and as a member of the Peter Brotzmann Tentet.
Depending on where the listener is coming from, this might be either good or bad. The international ensemble (Dave Rempis, alto & tenor; Steve Swell, trombone; Mark Tokar, bass; Mikolaj Trzaska, alto sax, bass clarinet; Vandermark, tenor, clarinet; Michael Zerang, drums; Waclaw Zimpel, clarinet, bass clarinet, taragoto; Magnus Broo, trumpet; Tim Daisy, drums; Per-Ake Holmlander, tuba) is nothing if not competent and ably handle Vandermark's compositions. For those hoping for some advancement, there be the rub. Three long pieces: a largely boppish one, a funky-then-spacey one and the last somewhere between, a sequence that's fairly standard. "The Pier", dedicated to photographer Yutaka Takanashi, is one of those up-tempo, light on its feet pieces that provide a solid enough framework for the soloists while the band punches out varied responses. After a grooving opening section, it segues into a quiet, open percussion portion, the horns keening softly and/or punctuating the space with staccato blurts. Eventually, via dissonant harmonies, it lurches back into ensemble playing, having moved laterally from straighter bop into the kind of area Sam Rivers tilled with his larger groups. All well and good except that, essentially, it's very much the same as prior Vandemark work, kind of a tamer version of the Brotzmann Tentet at its peak. One can't help comparing the results to the streamlined, able music produced by Marsalis and his compadres; there's very little sense of exploration or taking risks.
"Rope", for Don Ellis, starts in a stiffly funky groove, again sidles into a spacier area, delicately played, featuring spare percussion, inevitably swelling into a quasi-free squall to end things. Hmm...I think we've been here before. Finally, "Coal Marker", for Chris Marker, begins robustly with some of the better ensemble playing on the disc then segues into, perforce, a more hushed zone, regular, muffled horn burps backing other softly moaning reeds. And then, shockingly, we're back in post-bop, Broo's trumpet skittering over a dancing beat, highly reminiscent of what, say, one might have heard from the Art Ensemble in the early 80s.
Again, Vandermark has a fairly high fan contingent and those listeners are likely to find Kafka in Flight to be a solid, even exciting addition to his discography; from that standpoint here's little to complain about here. Those hoping for some serious expansion into unfamiliar areas will be disappointed.
Comments and Feedback:
|