Bruckmann/Daisy/Greenlief/Mezzacappa

As a bi-coastal program the signal flagged during this disc is how efficiently traditional orchestral instruments can be integrated within creative music. The instruments involved are oboe and English horn played by the Bay Area’s Kyle Bruckmann, who also injects tinctures of electronics into the proceedings. His West Coast associates are tenor saxophonist Phillip Greenlief, who has recorded with Joëlle Léandre and bassist Lisa Mezzacappa who has played with many on both sides of the country. Adding some Midwestern heft is percussionist Tim Daisy, an associates of many creative types in the US and Europe.

More interested in affiliated cadences than brawny crashes, the drummer sets up patterns which lock in with double bass beats and meet the saxophonist’s overblowing split tones and Aylerian screams and Bruckmann’s mellow mid-range textures with equal facility. Mezzacappa’s rigorous plucks project a linear flow, while her walking pulse both introduces the final, lengthy “Lublin”, and link it to “No Mean Feat” that begins the disc. Her organic rhythms on the former bookends the improvisations which transform a near-ballad into a saxophone tour-de-force with doits, bites and shakes prominent and more spectacularly a circular-breathed motif where Greenlief, holds on to a tone as long as Daisy’s prolonged cymbal resonation lasts.

Frequently buzzes, peeps and whistles from Bruckmann’s reeds are identical to or harmonized with the saxophonist’s output. But their singularity is confirmed on tracks like “Title 9” . Piping oboe tones lead arco string slices and slithery pressure from Daisy to stretch the theme’s parameters. Before exiting with electronic oscillations, the narrative is divided into duets, piercing trebles from Bruckmann’s horns with sul tasto string rubs or drum clangs meeting saxophone flutter tonguing. The most notable instance of textural amalgamation occurs on “Big Horse Lounge”. A canopy of cymbal smacks and wave form rumbles evolve at the same time as tolling bass strings and heraldic reed cadenzas. Sliding down the scale, the piece climaxes as subtle rim shots and string pumps duet, backed by reed trills. Without being able to interpret information from hand held telegraphy or computer access, it’s clear that this quartet still attained proper communication with a warm cohesive pulse.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. No Mean Feat 2. Big Horse Lounge 3. Title 9 4. Gentle Structure 5. The Warm Room 6. Ununisonorous 7. Lublin

Personnel: Phillip Greenlief (tenor saxophone); Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, English horn and electronics); Lisa Mezzacappa (bass) and Tim Daisy (drums and percussion)