There are many adjectives that describe
Marc Ribot -- some of the ones that immediately come to mind include adventurous, experimental, fearless, and eclectic. But one adjective one won't hear in connection with
Ribot is predictable. Capable of playing everything from
jazz to rock to
classical, the guitarist is one of music's more unpredictable figures. Released in 2001, Saints is an
avant-garde jazz outing that finds
Ribot playing unaccompanied solo guitar. There are no drums or bass on this CD -- it's just
Ribot and his guitar, and the explorer successfully turns his attention to everything from
the Beatles' "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" and
Stephen Sondheim's "Somewhere" to the standard "St. James Infirmary" (which has been heard countless times in
dixieland and classic jazz settings, but lends itself equally well to an
avant-garde makeover).
Ribot also brings his distinctive guitar to the famous
spiritual "Go Down Moses," as well as two pieces by '60s
free jazz firebrand
Albert Ayler: "Witches and Devils" and the title song. Although
Ribot's playing is quite free, it's also quite musical. This isn't an album of atonal chaos; the guitarist favors an inside/outside approach, and even though his improvisations are left-of-center, Saints isn't as far to the left as an album by saxophonist
Charles Gayle (just to give one example) would be. That isn't to say that
Gayle's atonality isn't equally valid -- only that
Ribot approaches
avant-garde jazz in a very different way. Saints is full of discernible melodies; typically,
Ribot will warmly embrace a melody before he ventures outside. And that inside/outside contrast serves him well throughout this excellent and very unpredictable CD. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
