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Michael Moore - alto saxophone, clarinet, melodica
Ernst Reijseger - cello, electric cello
Han Bennink - drums, percussion
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The first live documentation of this, at the time, three-year-old, hard
working trio. A wild romp of different jazz and world music styles
connected by intense improvisation. |
| "You could subtitle this "ICP does the west coast" as three stellar members of the lCP Orchestra, among other groups, do a set that
bears a slight resemblance to the chamber jazz of Chico Hamilton and Jimmy Giuffre but, with their penchant for musical anarchy,
is much wider. There are a few passages of free blowing noises but they always resolve into something more disciplined like the
jaunty European Ornette Coleman variations of "Providence" or a slow, rapturous reading of "Girl Talk" where Moore plays as sensuously
as Johnny Hodges. There's shape-shifting everywhere. "New Shoes," a simple post-bop head, is pulled by Bennink's hopped-up beat into
screaming free territory. "Debbie Warden" turns from scraping abstraction into an urbane blues line in the Billy Strayhorn manner with
Moore's acrid clarinet flying over Bennink's madly simmering percussion. Moore impresses the most of this trio probably because he
hasn't gotten the exposure of Reijseger or Bennink. He cuts a wide swath on alto playing everything from screaming energy music to
honking rhythm and blues. He also srinet? on the section that contains two Herbie Nichols compositions, "Sunday Stroll" and "117th Street"
and Hermeto Pascoal's "Bebe". His inquisitive, bluesy sound is what makes this trio sound like Jimmy Giuffre's old trios with
Jim Hall, though Moore's sound is a little thicker. In fact, on this showing clarinet is probably his best instrument. The serpentine dexterity he
gets on "Bebe" is remarkable. Of his partners Han Bennink is his usual demonic self, frantically hitting anything that moves and daring his
mates to keep up. He's probably the only great percussionist who could pull off he tricky polyrhythms of the samba "Ao Velho Pedro" and then
swing into a heavy Gene Krupa 4/4 on "Rollo II". Reijseger is content to
stalk the middle ground, playing the part of a bass, guitar or harp as
called for and occasionally showing his superb bowing abilities. This
is a delightful set of three great musicians playing wild and wooly games
with the jazz tradition." Jerome Wilson, Cadence February 1993 "  " - Jazzthetik
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