Want some sounds outside the jazz box?
Jack Mouse plays drums, gongs, sticks and things that go bump in the night; Scott Robinson takes on various reeds, woodwinds, guitars, whistles and things that go bump in the day; Janice Borla adds her crystal clear voice for wordless vocals, chants and pants. The music itself is a 16 part “Sandbox Suite” ranging from one to five minutes. The songs themselves range from percussive rustlings and Native American flutes as on “The Summons,” folksy drum beats on “Conjurer,” vocal utterances during “Across The Veld,” lots of cymbals, tongued saxes and vocal pants during “Blood Moon Rising” and “Slap Happy” and gongs crashing on “The Forge.” What you walk away with are sounds and sonic images of a night walking out on a full moon in the desert around Sedona.
Meanwhile, Mark Lockheart/sax-bcl, Jasper Hoiby/b and Liam Noble/p keep the moods loose with subtle grooves here. A loosely funky “Squared,” a loosely Monkish soul with soprano on “ Mr. Wrack” some soft plodding between bass and piano as a foundation for Lockheart’s tenor during “With One Voice” and some eerie pizzicato-ed bass during “One For Us” serve as modes of gentle interplay. Elliptical bouncing on “Unknown,’ subtle and melodic drama with Hoiby on the title track and gallant bass as a tightrope for Lockeart’s tenor on “One For Us” are the closest things to direct conversations in an album filled with subtle oblique dialogues.
Tall Grass Records
Edition Records