The Good and Evil Sessions are the first in
Thirsty Ear's Blue Series Continuum, which emphasizes diverse styles of music with a rotating, leaderless cast of musicians. This one melds
Danny Blume and
Chris Kelly of
Good and Evil fame with turntable maven
Miso and some of the heavy-hitters from the
avant-garde jazz world, including bassist
William Parker, pianist
Matthew Shipp, and trumpeter
Roy Campbell. The results are unpredictable and deliciously sassy, with groove-based throbs,
jazz beats, and turntable scratches setting the stage for down-in-the-bucket solos that purr with joyous abandon.
Free improv meets
punk and dance rhythms laced with foot-tapping, body-swaying pulses. While the
pop inflections are certain to spark a debate within the tiny but intense and vocal
free jazz community over the commercialization of art, the generally uncompromising
improvisations of the
Shipp/
Parker contingent stand up reasonably well even if somewhat less-intense and complex than usual. This sort of crossover
fusion could widen the appeal of these otherwise relatively obscure though extremely talented performers.
Shipp is in superb form, spinning webs of simple (though never simplistic) phrases, veiled by supple nuance.
Miso's scratches are a constant, subversive presence, while the
Blume-
Kelly guitar duo keeps the hips shaking and the trombone twosome of
Alex Lodico and
Josh Roseman adds a raunchy bottom.
Roy Campbell's fading repetitions on
"On the Run" are lovingly distorted through the filter of the
Good and Evil lens. ~ Steven Loewy
![Timeless [The Remixes]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5060555216429_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Timeless [The Remixes]")
![Timeless [25 Year Anniversary Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5060555213664_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Timeless [25 Year Anniversary Edition]")
