GREGG BENDIAN'S INTERZONE
Myriad
Atavistic
ALP119CD

Having set prevailing concepts of jazz repetory on their ear with his powerful drumming on last year's Interstellar Space Revisited, Gregg Bendian returns to the more familiar territory (for him) of mallets and original compositions. This guitar/bass/drums/vibes quartet has been an ongoing project for some time now, and although the group concept and sound has significantly expanded and matured, the acknowledged inspiration of Art Rock monoliths Gentle Giant is still clearly evident.

There is no question that Bendian and the brothers Cline have been responsible for some of the best creative music coming out of the West Coast these days, and bassist Liebig could be nearly on the same level, although occasionally sloppy technique and an overprocessed sound hold him back to a degree. Throughout the record, Interzone displays a wonderful sense of ensemble, with great precision in composed moments and remarkable interplay while improvising. Tracks like "Diaspora" demonstrate well that Nels Clines and Bendian are both textural players nonpareil, and while Cline often throws off a tasty solo, it is group timbre that stands to the fore on Myriad. On the three slow tunes, sounds are frequently allowed to hover in the air in isolation, savoured for all they are worth before the next one follows.

As a composer, Bendian tends toward the formulaic. He generally sets up a series of short, abstract ostinati and repeats them until they sound familiar before moving on to the next. These sections might alternate with tight, impressive unison lines, and group improvisation and/or solos take place before the recap. As strict as this form is, it occurs clearly on five of the seven tracks, and one is left to the conclusion that Bendian has many more limitations to overcome before his writing is on the same level as his playing. A particularly haunting arrangement of John McGlaughlin's "Sanctuary" (Nels Cline plays beautifully here) only further clarifies the fact that, for the time being, Bendian is still best heard playing other people's music.

The compositional limitations become less of a drawback upon repeated listening, strangely. Once the listener knows what they are getting into, they can more fully enjoy the marvelous execution of this difficult-to-pull-off material.

Christopher Meeder

Track Listing: 1. Interzonia 1, "David Cronenberg"; 2. Intrepid; 3. Pattern Master (for Octavia Butler); 4. Diaspora; 5. Drive; 6. Sanctuary; 7. Tactics.

Personnel: Gregg Bendian, vibraphone, glockenspiel, fuzz vibes; Nels Cline, guitar, slide guitar; Alex Cline, drums, percussion; Seuart Liebig, basses.