Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Joshua Abrams’ Cloud Script: Cloud Script

Joshua Abrams’ Cloud Script: Cloud Script

By Mark Corroto
March 16, 2021
View read count

Joshua Abrams’ Cloud Script: Cloud Script

You can take bassist

Joshua Abrams

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Joshua Abrams out of his Natural Information Society, but you can't take the Natural Information Society out of Abrams. His long- lived ensemble, which traffics in long-form psychedelic environmental music, has made a permanent imprint on just about everything Abrams does. In bands led by

Nicole Mitchell

flute
b.1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Nicole Mitchell,

Hamid Drake

drums
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Hamid Drake,

Dave Rempis

saxophone
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Rempis, and

Rob Mazurek

trumpet
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Rob Mazurek, Abrams' acoustic bass sound is hypnotic and mesmerizing. The same can be said for this one-off Cloud Script quartet.

The ensemble, which was marshaled to perform at the 2016 Hyde Park Jazz Festival in Chicago, recorded this music the next day. Abrams' choice of musicians informs this session.

Ari Brown

saxophone
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Ari Brown, a stalwart of the AACM, can also be heard with

Kahil El'Zabar

drums
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">Kahil El'Zabar and occasionally in Abrams' NIS. Guitarist

Jeff Parker

guitar
b.1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Jeff Parker and the bassist have crossed paths numerous times including Abrams' two Eremite Records releases, Represencing (2012) and Magnetoception (2015). Cleaver, who hadn't previously recorded with Abrams, may be the linchpin here. His chameleon-like performance allows this session to move in divergent patterns. His slow-moving groove on "In Place of Memory" maintains the architecture of the composition as his partners slowly dismantle the music. Ari Brown's luxurious (dare we say opulent?) tone soothes throughout, even when the quartet is driving the very busy

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman-like musings of "Collapsing Novelty," which finds Abrams mixing bowed bass against Cleaver and Parker's thunderous attack. Writing for a quartet like this allows Abrams to deal with contrasting approaches. "Harbor" is fashioned much as the trance music heard in NIS and while it is the shortest track on the disc, its sound patterns are almost ceaseless. Elsewhere, Parker's well-picked notes counter the busied "Echo Tracer," and "Duke Hill" is a merger of the stylings of

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington (by way of

Billy Strayhorn

piano
1915 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Strayhorn) and

Andrew Hill

piano
1931 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Andrew Hill. Ending with the ballad "Coniunctio," the quartet eschews independent expression in favour of the ineffable beauty of Abrams' composition. While this might have been planned to be a one-off outing, the music suggests Joshua Abrams' Cloud Script has much more to say.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

In Place of Memory; Harbor; Echo Tracer; Duke Hill; Collapsing Novelty; Coniunctio.

Personnel

Joshua Abrams

bass, acoustic

Ari Brown

saxophone

Jeff Parker

guitar

Gerald Cleaver

drums

Album information

Title: Cloud Script | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Rogue Art

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Architexture
< Previous

Synergy Signals
Next >

Joshua Abrams Concerts

Oct 7 Tue

Tom Skinner

Solar Myth
Philadelphia, PA

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.