A live recording from 1999 at Hint House in Harlem of TEST, led by Tom Bruno on drums with Matthew Heyner on bass and Sabir Mateen on alto & tenor sax, flute & clarinet, joined by Daniel Carter on alto & tenor sax, trumpet & flute, the set recorded by Matt Motel who captures the essence of this freewheeling band who brought their music not only to jazz clubs, but also to the street and subway.
Label: 577 Records Catalog ID: 5819 Squidco Product Code: 29522
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2020 Country: USA Packaging: Digipack Recorded live at the Hint House,Harlem, New York, on April 16th, 1999, by Matt Mottel.
"TEST and Roy Campbell, a live recording from April 16, 1999. This is the only known performance of Roy Campbell joining TEST: a collective band of Tom Bruno, Sabir Mateen, Daniel Carter, and Matt Heyner.
Following are edited notes from New York City musician Matt Mottel, who recorded the event:
"This performance was a benefit gig to repair the No Neck Blues Band's van. John Fahey, Lee Ranaldo, and No Neck Blues Band joined the stacked lineup at No Neck Blues Band's loft The Hint House and raised the 'bread' to fix the van. Spirits were lit with a listening and enthusiastic audience. The cathartic energy rising.
TEST occupied the public space of New York City. TEST's typical audience was a passerby on a subway platform, a curious security guard on a smoke break in midtown, or the most 'in the know' subset of gig-goers. TEST, distinctly honed their working band approach, by actively gigging multiple times a week across the NYC subway map. When they performed at a 'booked venue', the listener witnessed the bullseye acumen of a working band. This ethos of the band choosing to 'play anywhere/all the time', separated TEST from other groups.
Roy, one of the hardest working musicians on the scene, had a bear hug that would ensconce its recipient with camaraderie and love. Roy lived at the north end of the Bronx, but nightly, was downtown, uptown, or somewhere in the middle playing weekly at venues such as Lenox Lounge, The Pink Pony, Brecht Forum, Tonic, Knitting Factory and CBGB's Gallery.
Roy and TEST were ungrounded. They broke the glass ceiling on every hit, enriching the creative music community with manifest forward motion. On this album, we hear what the spirit of 'the music' is, was, and forever will be."-Matt Mottel
"Jazz ensemble Test was the brainchild of Tom Bruno. At the time, the drummer had been playing under the auspices of a program known as Music Under New York, which signed up musicians to ply their trade in the city's subways. Bruno, who sometimes paired with other artists to form duos, decided that he wanted to perform with Daniel Carter after the two musicians met in the program's offices. The pair enlisted bass player Dan O'Brien and their trio was born, but it wasn't long before the original lineup changed. O'Brien bowed out, and Matt Heyner came aboard to take his place on bass. At this time, the group also welcomed saxophone player Sabir Mateen into its ranks. After the early '90s, the group performed at least weekly in the subway system beneath New York City, or on the city's streets.
Heyner, whose mentor was William Parker, was the outfit's youngest member by at least a couple of decades. Previously, he was featured with Dave Nuss in the improvisational group No-Neck Blues Band. Carter had put in time with a crew known as Other Dimensions in Music, of which Parker was also a member along with Rashid Bakr and Roy Campbell Jr. Other ensembles that featured Carter include One World Ensemble, Tenor Rising, Drums Expanding, and Post Prandials. Mateen led his own trio, and for several decades performed with a list of other artists that included the Raphe Malik Quartet and the Pan-African People's Arkestra. Drummer Bruno died in August of 2012."-Linda Seida, All Music