Search - Bright Moments, Joseph Jarman, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre :: Return of the Lost Tribe

Easily--and rightly--considered a reunion of historic proportions, this quintet session brings together a bevy of early Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians members for the first time in years. The story is this: former Art Ensemble of Chicago saxophonist Joseph Jarman got wind that his long-lost associate Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre was around for a session, and the date was set. For the group's harmonic bends, fellow early-AACM vet Steve Colson, who's found himself rarely recorded, takes the piano bench. And Art Ensemble bassist Malachi Favors Maghostut rounds the group out with drummer-percussionist Kahil El'Zabar. The set begins low- and minor-key, inching along at a slackened pace that turns calmly liquid. The sax pairing begins to shine immediately, though, in a deep-toned way, and when the set starts turning outward, during "Song of Joy for the Predestined," Kalaparusha's tenor and Jarman's alto are mad with intensity, as are Colson's chromatic runs and jabs. "Kudus" gives the nod to a more intercontinental vibe, with El'Zabar's thumb piano making a fine showing. This band loves development, though, and spends considerable time developing slow swirls of melody and twined improvisation into outstretched admixtures of free jazz, textural interplay, and woodshedlike jams. It's a damn fine thing these vets got together for this session. --Andrew Bartlett