Customer Reviews

Depth of Field

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A half-fulfilled album nestled in between Zorn's abrasive atonal trash jazz and his melodic Masada work, Euclid's Nightmare would not be worth seeking had it not been for the hand full of tracks that actually do feel deeper then rough experimental sketches. In telling fashion, compositions this duo jam past the one or two minute mark seem to hold most interest, letting Previte's deep sense of rhythmic drumming compliment the sax lines in much more convincing ways.

"Euclid's Nightmare" is an album of duets between drummer Bobby Previte and alto saxophonist John Zorn. The pair, who had played together extensively before this recording (in 1997), recorded 27 tracks worth of improvisations and (I suspect) compositions, with the majority working in the framework of being roughly a minute long. Interspersed between these minute improvisations are occasional themes.

Given the context of the record, it proves to be remarkably strong in its notion-- each piece is a little microcosm of sax and drum duet, covering a range of moods from nearly ambient (track 5) to boppish (tracks 6 and 22) to more frantic and freewheeling stuff (tracks 1, 17, 25 and many others). The interaction between the two is staggering-- on the more aggressively voiced material, Zorn tends to pave the trail and Previte lays the support and follows whereas on the more laid back material, Previte sets up a framework over which Zorn keens and moans.

All told, it's a fun album-- it doesn't quite reach the depth that many other records featuring these two does, but for fans of either musician, this is a worthwhile investment.