Customer Reviews

RUB ME THE WRONG WAY

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Saxophonist Phillip Johnston has been composing music to accompany films since the mid 1980's. Writing music to accompany other art forms seems to have become second nature to Johnston at this point. So it should come as no surprise that his current release is composed of various tunes originally written as the score for a trio of dance pieces. He has a knack for writing music that while sonically unobtrusive, truly holds it's own when divorced from its visual content.

Keely Garfield's dance ensemble, Sinister Slapstick, initially used one of Johnston's old Microscopic Septet compositions to accompany their dance choreography. Upon meeting her in the 1990's Johnston and Garfield struck up a collaborative working partnership that continues to this day. The pieces presented on this album are the fruits of this labor. These tunes were originally composed for three different dance pieces: "Minor Repairs Necessary," "Rub Me the Wrong Way," and "The Further Adventures of Slap & Tickle." To Johnston's compositional credit none of the pieces included feel weakened by their lack of visual context.

Using an augmented version of his Transparent Quartet, Johnston's music wafts on a sprightly but ethereal vibe. Soprano saxophone, bass, vibes and piano plunge the depths of traditional American march melodies, film noir soundtracks, waltzes and Eastern European folk music. Johnston's music is loose, but never free in the sense that it breaks into heated atonality, as it has a simple tunefulness to it that carries an air of nostalgia. Johnston's writing is seeped in the cinematic grainy black and white of starkly lit alleyways, bathed by late night street lamps reflecting off rain soaked streets. The taught silhouette of a figure emerges from a distance, walking towards you ...

As improvisational jazz goes however, there is little substance to be found. The ensemble playing is tight, the melodies catchy, tuneful and memorable, but as for soloing? Very little. The 15 minute centerpiece is the only track featuring a drummer, yet lacks the polyrhythmic punch of Johnston's old Big Trouble drummer, Kevin Norton. Here, timekeeping is the only requirement, and the other tunes on the album carry just as much rhythmic impulse as this track does even with a trap set present.

Although more concerned with mood and atmosphere than with improvisational glee, Johnston's recent release provides a nice respite from the ordinary, just don't expect your jaw to drop while listening to it.