Mike Ellis 'Chicago Spontaneous Combustion Suite' (AlphaPocket)
Just under the surface in New York City, there are lesser known, but hard-working jazz musicians expanding the range of the avant-garde listenership beyond those who attend the Vision Fest, the Knitting Factory or John Zorn's venues. One of these is saxophonist and composer Mike Ellis, who has been around for two decades working with all kinds of groups from the Tokyo-based Meta, to a plethora of Russian progressives, to his current large ensemble in the Big Apple -- the Urban Jungle Orchestra.
Yet the "Chicago Spontaneous Combustion Suite" is a tribute to none of those locales, but rather to the Windy City, where this album was recorded in 2000, released in 2005, and re-promoted to the national media late last year. Performed spontaneously (all improvised, no rehearsals) with a group of top Chicago sessioneers, it's Mike Ellis' homage to the vast influence of that city's avant-garde history, from the formation of the AACM and the Art Ensemble in the '60s down to the bubbling jazz scene of today (Ken Vandermark, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, and tons of others).
The catalyst for this opus -- a group of 16 improvised pieces of various lengths and intensities -- was Ellis' long friendship with Chicago trumpeter Jeff Beer, whom he met in the '80s while working in legendary keyboardist/bassist Alan Silva's Celestial Communications Orchestra. But they're not the only horns in this quintet -- bass trumpeter Ryan Shultz (who has played with everyone from Anthony Braxton to Dave Liebman) joins them, as does scene workhorse bassist Larry Kohut (hear him step out solo on tracks 10 and 15) and versatile drummer Damon Short, who doesn't really move out of his color-making pocket until the seventh track.
Admittedly, a release like this is best suited for listeners who crave artistic whimsy and lack of structure -- there are more free-wheeling bursts of sound and sparse, drawn-out dissonances (see tracks 11 and 18) than there are passages where a furious, chaotic groove sets in. Yet the fact that this suite is divided into smaller sections means that one has the opportunity to sample it carefully like at a tapas bar, as well as to sit down and digest its entirety like a 16-course meal. That's helpful to those who might be unfamiliar with this exciting, but sometimes unnerving style.
In the end, though, Ellis is certainly able to capture the flavor and fervor of the Chicago avant-garde experience, while Beer's bright trumpet tones shine through with considerable fire. The DIY label Ellis founded to issue this CD, AlphaPocket Records, has since gone on to release more free-jazz milemarkers, such as "Invite the Unexpected" (with Pheeroan Aklaff and Cecil McBee) and "Subaro," from a performance series Ellis curated in Tribeca called "Speak in Tones." With creativity at this level, here's hoping his label moves from strength to strength.
-- Manny Theiner for the Post-Gazette
First Published: February 28, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
