Expedition , The

AVANT-GARDE JAZZ / EXPERIMENTAL

Three experimental musicians, all with Oakland connections, provide a set of “spontaneous intuitive explorations” (i.e., group improvisations) recorded in studio, following a series of similar live performances. Instrumentation is saxes, flutes, drums & perc, piano. Sometimes challenging listening, the effort is rewarded by some pretty powerful stuff.

Note: I’ve filed this as Rent Romus, as he is much the most notable of these 3 musicians. See the ensemble & album called Cabbages, Captain, & King for more of Eli Wallace.

All instrumental. No FCC issues.

1 Very fast; driven hard. Furious honking, violent drumming, chaos on piano. (6:55)
2 * Slow. Impressionistic interplay of flute & piano. Wish there was more of this. (1:42)
3 *** Varied tempo. A conversation between instruments. Fascinating. (7:06)
4 ** Mid-tempo. Scattershot, broken bit of melody, phrasing. Like hard-bop jazz. (7:05)
5 Slow. Chimes & flutes are suggestive of a primitive natural scene. (2:04)
6 * Mid-tempo. Almost an orthodox tenor-sax-with-trio thing. Accessible. (8:04)
7 *** Fast. Surprisingly bouncy, pleasant, catchy. A lot of spirit & energy. (6:16)