MARIO PAVONE ORANGE DOUBLE TENOR: Arc Suite t/pi t/po
Playscape, 2010

AVANT-MODERN JAZZ – Bassist Pavone expands his quintet by one for this lively, accessible set, which looks back to some of the notions of the 1960s avant-garde from a postmodern viewpoint. There are a few boppish references and a very strong rhythmic sense to maintain a familiar footing, but the music is pretty advanced. All the tunes are Pavone’s, but with four different arrangers you can really hear the whipcord tightness and flexibility of this ace band.

All tracks are good. Fo’s Picks: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10

1. 7:16 – quirky mechanical bounce: sketching bass, playful piano, meandering trumpet
2. 9:57 – sneaky theme; great trio stretches led by trumpet, sax, piano; fabulous drums!
3. 6:12 – strange chord maze and thick, untethered rhythm: cutting sax, brooding piano
4. 1:45 – fragmentary theme broken down over staccato rhythm
5. 5:27 – theme is chugging, urgent, and oblique; agitated horn solos boil over
6. 1:50 – a group moan, shapeless and floating
7. 7:41 – complex midtempo theme; settles in for convoluted trumpet, stretching piano
8. 5:06 – tense pulse: acrobatic bass is sandwiched by twisting horns & quick drums
9. 1:06 – dark, atmospheric interlude
10. 5:12 – striding postbop riff, soon twists in knots; sax digs in, piano solves the maze
11. 2:51 – unyielding, repetitive riff; horns fall into step, bass embroiders it
12. 4:47 – Steven Bernstein sits in to add a slippery feel; builds up rhythmic momentum

[ Fo ] 02/06/11