Clusone Trio

Michael Moore - alto saxophone, clarinet, melodicaErnst Reijseger - cello, electric celloHan Bennink - drums, percussionThe first live documentation of this, at the time, three-year-old, hard working trio. A wild romp of different jazz and world music styles connected by intense improvisation."You could subtitle this "ICP does the west coast" as three stellar members of the lCP Orchestra, among other groups, do a set that bears a slight resemblance to the chamber jazz of Chico Hamilton and Jimmy Giuffre but, with their penchant for musical anarchy, is much wider. There are a few passages of free blowing noises but they always resolve into something more disciplined like the jaunty European Ornette Coleman variations of "Providence" or a slow, rapturous reading of "Girl Talk" where Moore plays as sensuously as Johnny Hodges. There's shape-shifting everywhere. "New Shoes," a simple post-bop head, is pulled by Bennink's hopped-up beat into screaming free territory. "Debbie Warden" turns from scraping abstraction into an urbane blues line in the Billy Strayhorn manner with Moore's acrid clarinet flying over Bennink's madly simmering percussion. Moore impresses the most of this trio probably because he hasn't gotten the exposure of Reijseger or Bennink. He cuts a wide swath on alto playing everything from screaming energy music to honking rhythm and blues. He also srinet? on the section that contains two Herbie Nichols compositions, "Sunday Stroll" and "117th Street" and Hermeto Pascoal's "Bebe". His inquisitive, bluesy sound is what makes this trio sound like Jimmy Giuffre's old trios with Jim Hall, though Moore's sound is a little thicker. In fact, on this showing clarinet is probably his best instrument. The serpentine dexterity he gets on "Bebe" is remarkable. Of his partners Han Bennink is his usual demonic self, frantically hitting anything that moves and daring his mates to keep up. He's probably the only great percussionist who could pull off he tricky polyrhythms of the samba "Ao Velho Pedro" and then swing into a heavy Gene Krupa 4/4 on "Rollo II". Reijseger is content to stalk the middle ground, playing the part of a bass, guitar or harp as called for and occasionally showing his superb bowing abilities. This is a delightful set of three great musicians playing wild and wooly games with the jazz tradition."Jerome Wilson, Cadence February 1993