1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Improvising Group, June 3, 2001
This review is from: Time Is of the Essence Is Beyond Time (Audio CD)
This record features five current celebrities of the New York improvised music scene (as celebrities go in the world of improvised music). The quintet, for the most part, forms a coherent group capable of taking their music many places, which, on this record, they do.
The "rhythm section" (a role which the Messrs. Shipp, Parker, and Bakr take on capably in many instances) is especially tight, both harmonically and rhythmically. William Parker's open G-string playing has become more than a little cliched by now, but when he's not doing that he does some very interesting things. The trio forms a solid underpinning for Daniel Carter and Roy Campbell, both impressive, but I think a notch below their compatriots. I sometimes feel that they meander, particularly when they're playing together. However, when they find their groove, the energy really takes off. Mr. Carter's woodwind playing is better than his trumpet playing, but he manages to make both quite interesting. Mr. Campbell takes some exciting trumpet solos (I particularly like his muted solo in the second half).
This isn't my favorite improvised music group, but it is good music and worth listening to.
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