July/August 2000

Aesop Quartet
Fables for a New Millennium
8th Harmonic Breakdown

By Tom Terrell

Chicago's Aesop Quartet (Ernest 'Khabeer' Dawkins, reeds; Jeff Parker, guitar; Hamid Drake, drums; Rollo Radford, electric bass) got a lil' sumpin' sumpin' else for ya. Their new long player Fables for a New Millennium (8th Harmonic Breakdown, 8thHB 80002, 56:11) is a free-form, ancient-to-future session Art Ensemble-style 'cept with turntablist Rob Swift soloing ("Cuttin' N-Scratchin'," poet Reggie Gibson running Jarman-esque voodoo-logic down ("Graph-Ti-Fi-Ca-Tion") and a guitarist doing Lester. Favorites: "Tobias & Me"'s funky-cool harmelodic calypso, "Improvisation #8." Grooves sez, "Aahhhh!"