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Todd Bishop Group: Little Played Little Bird
BySo for now it's up to other players to shine the light on Coleman's compositions: Jamaaladeen, saxophonist Dave Liebmanwith one of his finest recordings, Turnaround: The Music of Ornette Coleman (Jazzwerksatt, 2010)and now, the Todd Bishop Group, with Little Played Little Bird.
Drummer Bishop, whose 69 Aannee Erotique (Origin, 2009) celebrated the music of the late French pop songster Serge Gainsbourgand landed on several top ten lists for the yearnow turns his eye on some of the tunes by Coleman that are not often covered by other artists. Like Liebman's tribute, Bishop's group eschews Ornette's main instrument, the alto saxophone. The Bishop Group goes with two players, Tim Willcox and Richard Cole, who share the reed duties on bass clarinet, baritone, tenor and soprano saxophones. Bishop also incorporates, as did Liebman, a chording instrument, which is a rarity on Coleman recordings. With Liebman, it was Vic Juris' wild and wooly and sometimes stratospheric guitar. Bishop's inspired choice is Brazilian pianist Weber Iago who, on the set's opener, "Mother of the Veil" shimmers and broods, and slips into deep introspection on his solo slot between the sweetly wandering reeds.
Little Played Little Bird sounds unlike any set that Coleman has ever put together, despite the temptation to compare it to his Hidden Man and Sound Museum Three Womensimultaneously-released on his Harmolodic Records label in 1996mostly because these overlooked gems in Coleman's discography included pianist Geri Allen. In terms of sound, Cole's baritone saxfierce and growling on "Enfant"recalls tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman's work during his Blue Note Records years with Coleman. Aside from that, the vision here is purely the Todd Bishop Group's.
For those with passing knowledge of the saxophonist/composer's sound, this wouldn't, on a blind listen, be recognizable as Coleman's music. For his ardent fans, the melodies are there, laid down with a compellingly original harmonic and rhythmic approach, with bassist Bill Athenswho is essential to the music's unqualified successlaying down a viscous and pulsating murk that flows through Bishop's idiosyncratic steam hiss cymbal sizzles and off-kilter but-tight drum work on this immaculate exploration of Ornette Coleman's music.
Track Listing
Mothers of the Veil; Enfant; Feet Music; Comme Il Faut; Friends and Neighbors; Check Up; Country and Town Blues; Lonely Woman; Strange As It Seems.
Personnel
Todd Bishop
drumsRichard Cole: bass clarinet, baritone, tenor and soprano saxophones; Tim Willcox: tenor and soprano saxophones; Bill Athens: bass; Todd Bishop: drums.
Album information
Title: Little Played Little Bird | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Origin Records