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?? [ISM]: Metaphor

By Mark Corroto
July 1, 2019
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We are all becoming. Not "becoming" as in pretty or handsome, but, as in we are coming to be. You can relate this to the Dharma path, or maturity, maybe even the act of learning how to juggle. Becoming is also the theme of the trio ?? [ISM]. Its follow up to Nature In Its Inscrutability Strikes Back?(Umlaut Records, 2015) is aptly titled Metaphor.

Pianist

Pat Thomas

piano
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Pat Thomas (About Group, Black Top,

Evan Parker

saxophone, soprano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Evan Parker,

Tony Oxley

drums
1938 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Tony Oxley, bassist

Joel Grip

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Joel Grip (Neuk?llner Modelle, Pepping Tom, Je Suis!) and drummer Antonin Gerbal (Umlaut Big Band, Zoor,

Bertrand Denzler

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Bertrand Denzler duo) commit the act of becoming through the process of group improvisation. Their music is a kind of transformational hive-mind experience. It's not that they create something from nothing, more like the create something from, well, everything.

The two lengthy tracks just seemingly appear. Conjured from a lifetime of music making "Cockscomb" drops with Thomas applying heavy left hand percussive notes over the bowed strains of Grip's bass and the burbled chatter of Gerbal's drum kit. The piece flows, but not as a stream or river. Echoes of

Keith Jarrett

piano
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Jarrett's approach are juxtaposed with that of

Craig Taborn

piano
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Craig Taborn or

Cecil Taylor

piano
1929 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil Taylor. Solos are mostly nonexistent, maybe better described as fictional. Think of the Australian trio The Necks, if The Necks were struck with Attention Deficit Disorder. The sound would be a hodgepodge or musical salmagundi if it weren't for the adhesive quality of the trio. Both Grip and Gerbal are capable and accomplished improvisers. They both apply an attentive and vigilance here. The trio's cuts and slashes are orchestrated with ease. The second track "Marguerite" is a bit more accessible, if by accessible we are able to possibly transcribe the music. It swings, in the old school sense of the word and rocks your soul with an every increasing pulse, that by the terminus has exhausted itself. Tired, but a good kind of tired.

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Track Listing

Cockscomb; Marguerite.

Personnel

?? [ISM]

Pat Thomas: piano; Joel Grip: double bass; Antonin Gerbal: drums.

Album information

Title: Metaphor | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Umlaut Records

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