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Flow Trio: Rejuvenation
ByFollowing a download-only release on Ayler Records in 2004, Rejuvenation constitutes the second release by Flow Trio, featuring reedman Louie Belogenis, drummer Charles Downs (formerly known as Rashid Bakr) and, in his bass playing guise, Joe Morris. Belogenis paid homage to the seminal influence of
John Coltrane
saxophone1926 - 1967

Albert Ayler
saxophone, tenor1936 - 1970

Rashied Ali
drums1935 - 2009

Roy Campbell
trumpet1952 - 2014

Tony Malaby
saxophone, tenorTogether they bring this experience to bear upon seven freely improvised cuts in a well-recorded 46-minute studio session. Belogenis purveys the reflective opener alone, his tonally distorted lines shaping a finely honed free melodicism as a nicely judged foretaste of what follows. A favorite tactic pitches the gravitas of his purposeful Ayler-esque vibrato against a faster pulse, creating a timeless and unresolved tension. Elsewhere his confessional whinnies soar into the upper register, as in the squalling "Pick Up Sticks," or he preaches with impassioned blurts atop a lurching fragmented rhythm as in "Unfolding."
Downs adroitly deploys the textural resources of his kit to shade the group momentum, with the pleasing tuned percussion pattern at the conclusion of his solo on "Pick Up Sticks" a testament to his melodic sensibilities. He has forged a fertile partnership with Morris, loose but in touch, generating effective contrasts as well as consonances, like the speedy ratatat contradicting Morris' loping riff to conjure an edgy feel to the title track.
Morris has rarely sounded better on bass, authoritative and uncluttered, allowing the music room to evolve, and with some great individual touches. Confirmation can be found at the start of "Succor," where his querulous bowing creates a creaky dark drone before the harmonics entangle Belogenis' undulating falsetto.
All three mesh with emotionally charged conviction and a collective aesthetic well suited to the ESP stable, creating a synergy which delivers even more than the promise of its not inconsiderable parts.
">Track Listing
Reflection; Slow Cab; Pick Up Sticks; Two Acts; Succor; Unfolding; Rejuvenation.
Personnel
Louie Belogenis: tenor saxophone; Joe Morris: bass; Charles Downs: drums.
Album information
Title: Rejuvenation | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: ESP Disk
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