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Taylor Ho Bynum 9-tette: The Ambiguity Manifesto

By Karl Ackermann
September 15, 2019
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Taylor Ho Bynum 9-tette: The Ambiguity Manifesto

Taylor Ho Bynum's The Ambiguity Manifesto, with its oxymoronic title, is the third album in what the cornetist-composer calls an "accidental trilogy." Following his Firehouse 12 Records releases Navigation (Possible Abstracts XII & XIII) (2013) and Enter the Plus Tet (2016), Bynum recognized a form—however unconventional—both in the composition and performing of these large ensemble works. With a 9-tette made up of members of his sextet and Plus Tet, Bynum adds

Stomu Takeishi

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Stomu Takeishi on electric bass.

Bynum cites

Anthony Braxton

woodwinds
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Anthony Braxton,

Cecil Taylor

piano
1929 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil Taylor and

Bill Dixon

trumpet
1925 - 2010

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Dixon—all of whom he has worked with—as affecting this music, but those, or any amalgam of influences, are not as apparent as the composer's own approach. There may not be a formal narrative holding the material together, but there are linked ideas where the initial outlines are analyzed and turned inside-out as the album progresses. Bynum doesn't overload the concept, letting the group distinguish themselves through their individual and collective interpretations.

The quirkily swinging, propulsive rhythm of "Neither When nor Where" opens the album on an exuberant note and leads into the brief, constantly-shifting "Enter Ally" with its multifaceted rhythms and free improvisations.

Tomas Fujiwara

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Tomas Fujiwara's kit ushers in "Real/Unreal (for Ursula K. Le Guin)" with

Tomeka Reid

cello

" data-original-title="" title="">Tomeka Reid's cello and Bynum lending a solemnity to the ten-minute tribute to the late, great science fiction and non-fiction writer and lecturer. The most darkly melodic piece on The Ambiguity Manifesto, it nevertheless builds to a more disordered conclusion, apropos of the two worlds Le Guin called home. The seventeen-minute "(G)host(aa/ab)" is by turns a carnival-like, theatrical, and rock-driven extravaganza with the entire ensemble keeping countless balls in the air. Slightly longer, "Enter (g) Neither" is a more episodic series of free improvisations held together by Fujiwara's magic.

As always, the brilliance of the horns of Bynum,

Jim Hobbs

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Jim Hobbs,

Ingrid Laubrock

saxophone
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Ingrid Laubrock, and

Bill Lowe

trombone, bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Lowe, guitarist

Mary Halvorson

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Mary Halvorson's ingeniously transformative presence and the imaginativeness of bassist

Ken Filiano

bass
b.1952

" data-original-title="" title="">Ken Filiano, give many lives to the music. For all the complexity of The Ambiguity Manifesto, there is a resounding clarity to the entire project. It is a testament to an exceptional—and unique—composer and the first-rate company he keeps.

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Track Listing

Neither When nor Where; Enter Ally; Real/Unreal (for Ursula K. Le Guin); (G)host(aa/ab); Enter (g) Neither; Ally Enter; Unreal/Real (for old music).

Personnel

Taylor Ho Bynum

cornet

Jim Hobbs

saxophone, alto

Bill Lowe

trombone, bass

Mary Halvorson

guitar

Ken Filiano

bass

Ingrid Laubrock

saxophone

Tomeka Reid

cello

Satoshi Takeishi

drums

Album information

Title: The Ambiguity Manifesto | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Firehouse 12 Records

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