Perceptive composer and cunning improviser, educator/keyboardist Angelica Sanchez has risen to the A-list of modern stylists and innovators. As history dictates, she largely summons the crème-de-la-crème of like-minded artists for her solo endeavors. Indeed, Sanchez's burgeoning discography for Clean-Feed records bears witness to her resourceful persona. On Wires & Moss, she traverses a route initiated upon evocative moods and jarring tone poems.
"Soaring Piasa" is an 11-minute opus designed with guitarist Marc Ducret's angular and creaky extended notes that help establish an unwieldy and slightly ominous introduction. As saxophonist Tony Malaby fills in the gaps along with Sanchez's nimble piano voicings. Hence, an unnerving calm underscores the storyline. But they subsequently raise the pitch, due to the leader's fractured jazz phrasings and subtle reverse-engineering processes, instilling a notion that many unanswered questions prevail.
It's an open-ended piece that morphs into a structured theme, centered on a simple and congenial melody line, where Malaby elevates the pitch via his plaintive cries during the finale. Sanchez and associates inject quite a few teasers into this multifaceted work. The ensemble decrees a translucent median, toggling between artistic risk-taking and modern mainstream while tossing several riotous detours into the grand schema. - Glenn Astarita
Angelica Sanchez is one of the main reasons that Rob Mazurek Pulsar Quartet's Stellar Pulsations is one of my favorite records of 2012. Her sublime chord progressions and rhythmic jabs lie at the heart of what makes that great band work. Basically, she's Mazurek's Herbie Hancock, freely pushing and pulling the other members of the group with intuitive grace.
On this, her fourth album as a leader, her approach isn't one of balance, but one of counterpoint – usually with guitarist Marc Ducret as her brilliant adversary. Ducret plays angular, choppy figures against Sanchez's fluid, lyrical lines – and then they switch roles. The duels manage to get very tangled, as the two musicians playing the chording instruments in the group. The richness they create as they weave around each other is enchanting and spellbinding.
The themes don't jump out and announce themselves, but sneak up on you later – after you've stopped listening to the music - encouraging (and rewarding) many repeat listening sessions. Standout track and centerpiece, “Soaring Piasa,” builds into something approximating David S. Ware's classic quartet, which speaks volumes about the chemistry between the players. (This might be a good place to mention that Tony Malaby is the saxophonist.) Everything about this album just feels right. - Tom Burris
Tracks
1. Loomed
2. Feathered Light
3. Soaring Piasa
4. Dare
5. Wires & Moss
6. Bushido
DREW GRESS bass
TOM RAINEY drums
MARC DUCRET guitar
TOM MALABY tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
ANGELICA SANCHEZ piano
Clean Feed - CF259 CD