Jazz
composer/arranger/theorist
George Russell
used to explain his piece
"Dimensions"
as "a sequence of freely associated moods indigenous to
jazz
." Same could be said about
At the Center
but this time the person doing the free associating doesn't come from the world of
, at least not as far as his previous records have let on. As
Meat Beat Manifesto
,
Jack Dangers
has been responsible for some of the most in-your-face
dance
music available, recorded for the seminal
industrial dance
label
Wax Trax
, and paved the road for the garish sound of
big beat
.
Dangers
doesn't have the downtown pedigree that made
DJ Spooky
such a shoo-in for
Thirsty Ear
's Blue Series, but as
displays, he's up to the series' "pushing the
envelope" challenge. Hearing jazzers
Peter Gordon
(flute),
Dave King
(drums), and
Craig Taborn
(keyboards of all types) interact with
' soundtracky and experimental constructions stops just short of being compelling, but it's refreshing that no one is reduced to being a session musician. On
"United Nations Etc. Etc.,"
Gordon
finds plenty of inspiration in
' groove, and
Taborn
is always contributing, adding funky fills, fluid improvs, and stabbing
soul-jazz
himself proves to be a serviceable bass flute and bass clarinet player, but it's with the "everything else" that he's credited with that he really shines. Besides laying down some trippy soundscapes, he provides both snippets and lengthy tapes of dialog that give the improvisers something that's more tangible and narrative than what they're used to, and that's the record's big draw. Hearing
King
, and
respond to quirky readings of freaky classifieds on
"Want Ads One"
is an eye-opening experience. The band just shuffles underneath the taped voice, until the pitifulness of all this desperation works them into a more brittle and punchy workout.
musicians versus the mundane world could be what
is getting at, and it works. A couple entirely abstract numbers are less satisfying but serve a purpose by fleshing the album out nicely. ~ David Jeffries