BEN GOLDBERG: Unfold Ordinary Mind
BAG Production, 2012

AVANT-GARDE – Interesting quintet session led by local clarinetist Goldberg with two saxes (Ellery Eskelin & Rob Sudduth), Nels Cline on guitar and Ches Smith on drums. That’s a lot of shared experience and a lot of improvisational power. These slumping pieces move from relaxed reed harmonies through disintegrating riffs, guitar shredding, and rockish marching beats, mostly holding onto identifiable melodies but sometimes just by the edge of their fingernails.

Fo’s Picks: 1, 2, 6, 7

1. 9:09 – horn trio goes from moodiness to little marches, then guitar goes wild
2. 11:22 – slouching start, slow shredding, then settles into a relaxed groove… that eventually falls apart and it ends in loose, twisting threads
3. 5:48 – slips into a simple slow-rock rhythm, guitar gets pretty trippy
4. 2:16 – horn trio riffs on a melodic fragment, then flutter around guitar
5. 3:36 – messy drums, abstract guitar pull it inside out; bass clarinet runs low
6. 9:21 – dignified horns wander into funky guitar jam, last 2:00 splinters apart
7. 5:45 – this one stays fairly calm, reeds and guitar in a sort of counterpoint

[ Fo ] - 23 February 2013