Dan Clucas | Mark Weaver | Dave Wayne | Hotend | Do Tell play the music of Julius Hemphill | Amirani Records

Julius Hemphill’s music is about digging under the facts, pulling out the stops, revealing the insides, telling the truth. His groove-oriented pieces (Steppin’, The Hard Blues, Otis Groove) seem to be a function of his having internalized the essence of the blues, so that the feeling, the ache of that music, is imbedded in the soul of these songs. Contrarily, his more compositional side is less about rhythm and more about sound, timbre, and tone. But always, his compositions value improvisation; even his most thoroughly notated works call for the musicians to collectively improvise within the parameters of that piece and there again lies the spirit of the blues in Julius Hemphill’s music, which is perhaps the most revealing truth of all. Continue reading

Protuberance | Treated and Released | Zerx Records 019

Mark Weaver’s tuba roots the sound with some elegance for such a seemingly awkward instrument, meshing surprisingly well with the other players. Drummer Dave Wayne’s playing is engagingly funky, though with an ear tuned for the sudden off-beat investigation of his kit á là Joey Baron – he takes a fine solo on the self-penned “T. W.” too. Yet, despite the fact that Weaver’s written most of the tunes, and that his tuba is occasionally let loose (showing considerable agility on “Deflections” and some grace on “Soon Enough”), the lead sound here is undoubtedly Paul Pulaski’s guitar. He’s a player of some ability, with a sound I couldn’t really pin down – at times he approaches Bill Frisell’s territory (volume swells, and bent chords), though is perhaps closest to a trickier Marc Ribot – he’s got a slightly sharper, clanging, bluesier tone than most jazz players, which contrasts well with the broad sound of the tuba. The only problem here is that the lack of variation in sound eventually begins to show. No matter how good the players and the tunes are – and they are good – this combination played and recorded “straight” is ultimately a little limiting. Yet I can still heartily recommend this CD to fans of quirky, funky leftfield jazz. Even despite that name. —Dan Hill Continue reading

Radius | Witch of Agnesi | Plutonium Records

One of the exhilarating aspects of improvisation is that it occasionally gives musicians from divergent locations the freedom to get together and create instant compositions that sound as if they come from a working group. This is one of those instances. Recorded in concert at the aptly-named Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the disc combines the talents of local tuba explorer Mark Weaver with that of discriminating drummer Dave Wayne of nearby Santa Fe, plus multi-reedman Alan Lechusza from San Diego, California and young bass master Damon Smith of California’s Bay area.–Ken Waxman, Toronto, June 3, 2002 Continue reading