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AYCH / Jim Hobbs / Mary Halvorson / Taylor Ho Bynum: As The Crow Flies

By Glenn Astarita
May 13, 2012
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Track review of "Over Yonder"

AYCH / Jim Hobbs / Mary Halvorson / Taylor Ho Bynum: As The Crow Flies

Three prominent modern-era improvisers offer a lesson in stark contrasts on this session, containing semi-structured and composed works. The artists construct off-center balladry, angst, and playful, cartoon-like soundscapes, amid a few doomsday scenarios dispersed throughout the jaggedly moving parts.

Alto saxophonist

Jim Hobbs

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Jim Hobbs' "Over Yonder" stands out, because it would have seemed highly unlikely that the trio would flirt with traditional, New Orleans jazz frameworks within the set's largely freely organized and vastly expressive agenda. Sparking remembrances of

Louis Armstrong

trumpet and vocals
1901 - 1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Armstrong's resonating extended notes, cornetist

Taylor Ho Bynum

cornet
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Taylor Ho Bynum aligns with Jim Hobbs for a bracing set of choruses, executed via a slow crawl atop guitarist

Mary Halvorson

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Mary Halvorson's concise, and somewhat conventional rhythmic plucking. They impart a soul-stirring Big Easy vibe as the avant spectrum weaves in and out, designed with a smattering of free-form stylizations. One of the key factors pertains to the trio's carefully envisioned processes, where they don't let the traditional jazz schema override the prevailing sense of modernism. Indeed, Aych links a wealth of guileful propositions here and throughout the program.

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Track Listing

The First Time; As The Crow Flies; High Noon; Keiklonga; Southern School Of Reality; The North Wind; Over Yonder; Forrest Of The Dead King; Cydonia's Face; Salamander And Ramona; Bimini Road; Il Est Escrit Que La Vie Se.

Personnel

Jim Hobbs

saxophone, alto

Jim Hobbs: alto saxophone; Mary Halvorson: guitar; Taylor Ho Bynum: cornet.

Album information

Title: As The Crow Flies | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Relative Pitch Records

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