GoodandEvil: Blue Series Continuum: GoodandEvil Sessions

Brown’s fellow sonic explorers at Thirsty Ear are continuing their expedition of post-Downtown scene avant-gardism mixed with electronica. The bewitching GoodandEvil Sessions (Thirsty Ear) spearheads Thirsty Ear’s Blue Series Continuum, which highlights ad-hoc collaborations with the label’s superb roster of musicians. For this project, they’ve enlisted the production duo talents of GoodandEvil to tweak out performances laid down by Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Roy Campbell, Chris Kelly, Alex Lodico and Miso. The result is a cinematic tour de force, which triumphs thumping beats, buttery grooves and bracing three-part horn harmonies rather than mundane series of rote solos. GoodandEvil excels at not overproducing the proceedings, allowing Parker’s rich bass lines to illuminate and Miso’s deft turntablism to flourish, as on the noirish “The Stakeout” and the infectious “Roll It Back,” which has some lickety-split drumming from Kelly. The cacophonous eruptions commonly associated with the jazz avant-garde burst out unapologetically at the beginning of “Close Call,” with Campbell’s trumpet screaming mightily in front of the surging horn line and twinkling electronica soundscapes, but for the most part GoodandEvil keeps the session from delving into electro-mayhem.

Originally Published December 1, 2003