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Bastet: Eye of Ra
Shelly Manne
drums1920 - 1984
Bud Shank
saxophone1926 - 2009
It's funny, too, that the band's name—and even the album title—come at you from left field. One might assume that Bastet refers to some hip insider variant of "quartet" or "quintet." It doesn't. Turns out, Bastet is an ancient Egyptian deity; the goddess of cats, music, dance, and a few other nice things. Not coincidentally, she is also known as The Eye of Ra. None of the players in Bastet are familiar to me, though each are highly capable, sensitive types who do all of the little things that make their music work really well; like holding the cymbals at the end of a phrase to create an almost deafening silence, just for a moment.
On the surface, Bastet's music has sort of a mournful ECM-type sound, though the compositions—all written by guitarist
Justin Rock
guitarSlumgum
band / ensemble / orchestra
Peripheral Vision
band / ensemble / orchestra
Bill Frisell
guitar, electricb.1951
There's an unassuming charm and wry humor to much of Rock's composing that's Frisell-like, though he is a completely different sort of guitarist: hard-edged and percussive, not legato, with a clean, largely undistorted tone like
Pat Martino
guitar1944 - 2021
Jim Hall
guitar1930 - 2013
Mike Quigg
drums
Bob Moses
drumsb.1948
Gary Burton
vibraphoneb.1943
Tim Lin
saxophone, tenor
Michael Brecker
saxophone, tenor1949 - 2007
Joe Lovano
drumsb.1952
Bastet also demonstrates an admirable stylistic range. Performed twice on this collection, the title track proves that the quartet can really wail in a swinging post-bop mode, while "Wallflower" and "Smoke and Mirrors" are free-ish ballads, "Sex Kitten" has a samba-derived rhythmic feel, and "In The Moonlight" goes right for that floating, mournful ECM sound. The remaining tunes straddle various jazz and jazz-rock styles in a nuanced way, mostly sounding pretty quirky in a post-modern 21st Century fashion. I especially enjoyed the proto-minimalistic compositional aspects of "In Violet;" both versions feature excellent drumming and Rock's most "out" soloing of the entire album. Much the same can be said of the lengthy "Battles With Gravity," which also has a really fetching, languid melody.
A surprisingly fine album from a dynamic young group with some great ideas and the chops to make music that has some staying power, even in today's insanely competitive and overpopulated jazz landscape. ">
Track Listing
Wallflower; In Violet; Smoke And Mirrors; In The Moonlight; Sex Kitten; Above It All; Eye Of Ra; Battles With Gravity; Eye Of Ra (take 2); In Violet (take 2).
Personnel
Justin Rock: guitar; Tim Lin: tenor sax; Guilio Cetto: bass; Mike Quigg: drums.
Album information
Title: Eye of Ra | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Self Produced
Tags
Bastet
CD/LP/Track Review
Dave Wayne
Two for the Show Media
Self Produced
United States
California
san francisco
Shelly Manne
Bud Shank
Justin Rock
Slumgum
Peripheral Vision
Bill Frisell
Pat Martino
Jim Hall
Mike Quigg
Bob Moses
Gary Burton
Giulio Cetto
Tim Lin
Michael Brecker
joe lovano
Eye of Ra
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