Search - Barney Mcall :: Release the Day

Call this Australian-born pianist's New York answering machine and you'll hear Radiohead's "Knives Out," a forlorn song that slips and slides like a wicked ocean undertow. This is a clue to the open-ended music of Release the Day, which hints at the dark melodies of Radiohead, the happy strut of Dollar Brand, the exotic allure of Randy Weston, and the funky counter-rhythms of Cubano bop. The opening track, "Thirty Three," is a simple motif repeated for 15-plus minutes, casting an engrossing spell while Joey Baron, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Eddie Bobe, and Gary Bartz tease its gossamer melody. It's a simmering introduction to a beautiful record. The album inches along from the Afro-Cuban rumination of "Obatala" to the spectral chant of "Chaos Lento" to the bluesy, beautiful saunter of the "Release the Day," which recalls a Becker-Fagen brass melody from Aja or Two Against Nature. Using space and simplicity, Barney McAll conjures mighty music. --Ken Micallef