Ed Blackwell Trio - Walls-Bridges (1992)

A Darker Shade Of Blue

This remarkable session brings together avant jazz drumming stalwart Ed Blackwell, tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, and bassist Cameron Brown, for a set of blistering freebop that draws on the traditions of jazz as often as it turns them inside out. Blackwell has a distinctive drumming style, characterized by tribal tom-tom work and almost martial, marching band cadences. The trio creates shape-shifting melodies and rhythms that are equal parts technical precision and almost telepathic response and expression.
Standards such as Davis’s “Half Nelson” (given an extended, almost deranged reading here), the plaintive “Everything Happens to Me,” and a breezy, Ornette-like “Take the ‘A’ Train,” are given the same energy and creativity as the originals. The other compositions, all of which were penned by Redman, display an astonishing range of subject, texture and feel. From deconstructed bebop (“Boo-Boo Doop”), to blinding freneticism (“Walls-Bridges”), to deep bluesy swing (“Blues For J.A.M.”), these tracks add up to a top-notch set that shouldn’t be missed by fans of adventurous, stimulating jazz. {Cd Universe}.

Uri Hornstein

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