James Emery Luminous Cycles - Btl10185 - Jazz - by Between The Lines

At a time in which the sound of e-guitars occupies the limelight in jazz and pop music, it seems hopelessly antiquated when someone enters the scene with an acoustic guitar to leave his mark on the realm of avant-garde music. James Emery never had any particular difficulty in coming up with such chamber-music oriented strokes of genius: as the co-founder of the legendary String Trio Of New York, he knew only too well how much power can result from a seemingly unspectacular line-up and performing context. In Luminous Cycles, Emery designs his musical microcosm with two wind instruments and a striking rhythm section. The leader's compositions, which seem so light and buoyant, are assimilated by the sextet with an ease which gives rise to a plethora of new sound images during the fascinating solo and collective improvisations. Music as a flowing movement, in which the thoroughly melodic parts are carried by unusual sounding rhythmic patterns. Emery's entries ensure that he always remains in the centre of the musical activity. In pieces such as “One Red Thread,” the guitarist creates imaginative accents in the lines continued by the ensemble, the action culminating in a dramatic interplay between Marty Ehrlich’s rapturous alto saxophone choruses and inventive responses from the leader on the guitar. In “Beyond Words,” the dreamy glockenspiel introduction is followed by ghostlike waltz and klezmer associations, which are silhouetted in Chris Speed’s clarinet parts. In “En Rapport,” the authentic groove created by Drew Gress’ striking bass becomes a signpost showing the way through a complex maze of distinctive motif sequences. Panoramic blues abstractions give a mysterious allure to “Violet Into The Blue.” And the parts based on this material, parts conceived by James Emery for each individual musician in the ensemble, make this session a filigree.