Cooper-Moore, Tom Abbs, Chad Taylor - Triptych Myth (Hopscotch)

Cooper-Moore, Assif Tsahar - America (Hopscotch)

Assif Tsahar, Mat Maneri, Jim Black - Jam (Hopscotch)

Assif Tsahar, Tatsuya Nakatani - Come Sunday (Hopscotch)

Triptych Myth has a somewhat misleading title, as Cooper-Moore, Tom Abbs, and Chad Taylor are showcased more in a crowded single panel than three side by side, but the trio imagery is good enough, I suppose. A fairly straightforward collection of out (but not so far out) tunes and improvisations on piano, bass, and drums, the disc offers some solid collaboration between the three collaborators, of which Cooper-Moore is the only Hopscotch regular. It's a bit tough to tell the composed and improvised pieces on the disc apart, not only because the tracklisting on the disc's packaging doesn't seem to match what Winamp is showing me, but also because many of the trio's unstructured journeys find familiar paths, and some of their pre-composed jaunts can get pretty wild. "Harare," a solo track from percussionist Taylor, is an unexpected highlight, with what sounds like a xylophone loop augmented by skittering percussion, oddly gentle and soothing. Abbs gets his own track, too, though there's definite percussion action taking place behind his scattered bass manipulation. Taylor steals the show here, always busy, though rarely annoyingly so, even underneath more mellow leanings from the piano and bass.

America, a wide-reaching disc of duets between Tsahar and Cooper-Moore, features Tshar on tenor sax, bass clarinet, and classical guitar, with Cooper-Moore playing piano, banjo, mouth bow, percussion, and the diddley-bo, a bass instrument of his own invention. The disc's title track, a deep, rumbling rhythm with Cooper-Moore's vocal indictment of American policy and attitude, is a bit of an anomaly, as most of America lands in more improvisational waters, with Cooper-Moore and Tsahar switching instruments and styles on almost every track. Even some of the composed works on the disc take on an improvised feel, though there are tracks, like the Tsahar-penned "Beyond the Years" that are based on clearly defined, pre-written parts, though, perhaps, only for one of the musicians. Cooper-Moore's work on his diddly-bo is impressive, modern improv with a backwoods feel, and his piano work on "Wounded Knee" is great. Tsahar's contributions to the disc may be subtler than Tsahar's, but this is far from a reflection of the quality of his playing. America covers a lot of ground, and, for the most part, does it well.

Jam, the documentation of the sound of a somewhat new trio of Tsahar, Mat Maneri, and Jim Black might be the best Hopscotch offering included here. Consisting of nine totally improvised tracks, the disc features focused playing and great listening, showcasing all three musicians at their improvisational peak. Tsahar's reedwork (he plays tenor sax and bass clarinet here) meshes well with Maneri's violin, and the two communicate in concert with relative ease. There are points at which their follow-the-leader duets sing over Black's energetic percussion, and each voice seems to be in complete harmony with the instruments around it. The untitled fifth track, which begins with a hefty drone, is one of the album's standouts, partially because it breaks up a stream of tracks that aren't always bereft in diversity of sound. Tsahar, Maneri, and Black, though, do utilize more than the usual clichés of both their specific instruments and their improvisational style as a whole, and Jam is an excellent exhibit of their skills. Things stay rather mellow, but that suits these three just fine.

Of the four Hopscotch releases reviewed here, Come Sunday is the most recent, and probably the best. This duo recording pairs Tsahar with percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani, a Japanese-born drummer who's resided and made a name for himself in New York since 1995. Nakatani's palette of sounds is a wide one, and his playing is rarely complacent; he is never upstaged by Tsahar the way other percussionists might be. Bowed cymbals, mini toms, and a selection of bells all make their way into the recording, and Nakatani isn't afraid to use them as more than novelties, something basing an entire song's worth of improvisation on such instruments and techniques. The pairing of Nakatani's resourceful drumming and Tsahar's agile reed work makes for athletic, but also emotionally charged music that makes Come Sunday the best of this recently released bunch.

adam strohm 2004 jun 18