Stein/Smith/Shead

Creative improvisation among equals, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, bassist Damon Smith and percussionist Adam Shead range over five instant compositions with sturdy dexterity that belies the trio’s part-time status. The band’s occasional activity is related to the members’ many other projects. Plus Stein, who leads his own bands and Shead, who is also a visual artists and has worked with Keefe Jackson are in Chicago, while Smith, who has partnered with sound explorers on both sides of the Atlantic, is in St, Louis.

There are plenty of instances for the bassist to demonstrate arco and pizzicato skills here. However most of the time his throbbing pulse is the fulcrum upon which the tracks rest, giving the others more improvisational freedom. On “The Deaf Voice of the Light” for instance as Smith speedily uses woody thumps to pace the performance, Shead pummels his rims and exposes paradiddles while Stein uses arabesques and trills to travel up and down the scale from clarion honks and slurs to distended altissimo cries and bites. As the bassist’s repeated thick strums preserve flow, the others play outside. The percussionist contributes bell-ringing, plush toy squeezes, Jew’s harp-like twangs and marimba tone bar clanks as the clarinetist slices into the exposition with asides ranging from chalumeau register slurps to extended shrieks before the three join for the conclusion.

These timbral adjustment persist throughout the disc, whether the narratives are middle ground and slow paced or move fleetly at allegro or presto tempos. Harmonizing, but without overt harmonies, motifs like sul tasto string sprawls, irregular reed vibrations that sometimes resemble rooster crowing and cymbal ruffs and rides are often present. Yet the trio still confirms comprehensive forward motion. By the concluding “Clearly, Blue Is for Sitting”, a regularized pulse is attained via tough bass string stops and percussion rebounds so that gradually inflating reed bites fit perfectly within the cohesive sound summation.

Closely aligned to each other’s skills, Stein, Smith and Shead’s intermittent association results in an exemplary disc by an evolving trio.

—Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Heterodox Symmetry 2. The Deaf Voice of the Light 3. Blue Isn’t for Sitting 4. The Non Dimension of the Present 5. Clearly, Blue Is for Sitting

Personnel: Jason Stein (bass clarinet); Damon Smith (bass) and Adam Shead (drums and percussion)