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Rich Halley: Boomslang

By Mark Corroto
January 9, 2022
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Jazz has, to some extent, always been about making connections and pointing out interrelations. Ever since

Buddy Bolden

cornet
1877 - 1931

" data-original-title="" title="">Buddy Bolden blew his cornet in New Orleans around the start of the twentieth century, listeners have been playing connect the dots, linking Bolden's innovations to

King Oliver

trumpet
1881 - 1938

" data-original-title="" title="">King Oliver and Oliver's to

Louis Armstrong

trumpet and vocals
1901 - 1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Armstrong, likewise

Buck Clayton

trumpet
1911 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Buck Clayton to

Dizzy Gillespie

trumpet
1917 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Dizzy Gillespie and

" data-original-title="" title="">Kirk Knuffke, and so on. Jazz has both an oral and aural tradition that contextualizes innovation within the traditions but maybe more importantly allows for its evolution through mutations. Okay, maybe during a global pandemic 'mutation' isn't an acceptable term. Let's go with transmogrification.

Boomslang by the quartet of

Rich Halley

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Rich Halley,

Dan Clucas

cornet

" data-original-title="" title="">Dan Clucas,

Clyde Reed

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Clyde Reed, and

Carson Halley

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Carson Halley summons both thoughts of tradition and transmogrification. The saxophonist Rich Halley was heard last on two improvised recordings with

Matthew Shipp

piano
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Matthew Shipp's trio, both on Pine Eagle Records The Shape Of Things (2020) and Terra?Incognita (2019). With Boomslang he returns to his long-standing trio plus the addition of Dan Clucas' cornet. Those familiar with Halley's music will recognize his brawny tone here and also this quartet's connections to the music of

John Carter

clarinet
b.1929

" data-original-title="" title="">John Carter and

Bobby Bradford

trumpet
b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobby Bradford which was naturally linked to that of

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman and

Don Cherry

trumpet
1936 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Cherry. Like early Coleman, there is a bridge here between bebop and the avant-garde. In Halley's world everything is required to swing, and credit must be given to (son) Carson's drumming and Reed's bass. The pair keep the engine running (hot) as the elder Halley and Clucas' dialogue "Corroboration," weave intricate lines "The Drop Off" and "Dispholidus," and always work as an agreeable and responsive tandem. While this is the Rich Halley 3's first recording with Clucas, the music gives the impression the four have been making music together for many years.

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Track Listing

Corroboration; Northern Plains; The Drop Off; Situational; Dispholidus; The Lean; Intermittent; The Converse; Quintuplify.

Personnel

Rich Halley

saxophone, tenor

Additional Instrumentation

Dan Clucas: cornet; Clyde Reed: bass; Carson Halley: drums.

Album information

Title: Boomslang | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Pine Eagle Records

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