Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core: Stone Shift

Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core: Stone Shift

By Kurt Gottschalk
November 14, 2009
View read count

Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core: Stone Shift

Larry Ochs, best known for his work with the long-standing ROVA saxophone quartet, has been working an unusual and satisfying side project for close to a decade. His Drumming Core, founded in 2000, is a trio with two drummers dedicated to exploring American field hollers and Asian chants. The first two CDs were rewarding, if more as an opportunity to hear Ochs as the sole melody instrument than for the East-meets-West concept. But for their third release, Ochs has expanded the band (and made it more truly an Asian-American hybrid) with the addition of pianist

Satoko Fujii

piano
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">Satoko Fujii and trumpeter

Natsuki Tamura

trumpet
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Natsuki Tamura.

Stone Shift is, plain and simple, a remarkably exciting record. The concept of the band remains buried (neither a detriment nor, necessarily, an asset), but as a meeting of five powerful players (

Scott Amendola

drums
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Scott Amendola and Donald Robinson make up the drum corps) it's stellar. The compositions seem for the most part to state theme and then orchestrate the ensemble into a carousel of duets and trios. It is dramatic and exultant (and no surprise, then, that the band's songbook includes dedications to Akira Kurosawa and David Cronenberg).

A primary bit of curiosity about the disc will no doubt be Fujii's appearance on synthesizer in addition to her usual piano. A strong composer and bandleader in her own right, Fujii has been pushed in unusual directions (not just the synth but, more recently, accordion) in projects led by the mischievous Tamura. Here is her first appearance as a synth player, at least on record, outside of Tamura's hard-driving compositions and hearing her in a freer setting is surprising. When the band appeared at Roulette on Oct. 13th, she sat quietly as the horns opened the set and then mimicked both at once on the Casio keyboard, bending and shifting pitches like she was wringing out a rag. Fujii, of course, has a strong sense for dynamic interaction and hearing her a bit like a kid with a new toy is one of the many nice sidelights of the record.

But the main light is Ochs' smart use of this new group. The four long (10 to 20 minute) compositions are endlessly varied, rather amazingly so. What might be most surprising is how, ultimately, it doesn't feel like a drum record. It is rhythmic of course, polyrhythmic and propulsive, but Ochs doesn't let the presence of two drum kits dictate the music. The instrumentation may be a little unusual, but it is, ultimately, a hypnotically intelligent small-group jazz record.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Across From Over; Abstract Rising; Stone Shift (for Kurosawa); Finn Veers for Venus.

Personnel

Larry Ochs

saxophone

Larry Ochs: tenor and sopranino saxophones; Satoko Fuji: synthesizer, piano; Natsuki Tamura: trumpet; Scott Amendola, Donald Robinson: drums.

Album information

Title: Stone Shift | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Rogue Art

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Vietnam
< Previous

The Scarlatti Jazz Suite Project
Next >

Larry Ochs Concerts

Oct 10 Fri

Jones Jones

Dialograum Kreuzung An St. Helena
Bonn, Germany

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.