Extraordinary Popular Delusions – “Apocryphal Fire In The Warehouse, and Other Explanations” – [Harmonic Convergence]

Thurston Hunger   8/28/2011   CD, Jazz

Chicago Fire of 2010, released in 2011. Spent five years get
the sparks together with a weekly gig at the Hotti Biscotti.
Mars Williams fans will dig his free flights. Weirdos (and
I am with you) should start with #1, #5, and #7 (great fun
for getting self-professed jazz afficiaonados out of their
coffins and into a huff about what is and what is not the
sacred jazz.). Those tracks have an eerie tension, as Jim
Baker goes with synths from the emergency room, and Brian
Sandstrom with gets bowed and bloody on the bass, or yanks
a Luttenbacher-esque guitar out to chomp on some distortion
for a bit. Read the titles, and you can taste the cerebral
flavor, other moments like the “Treadmill to Obliviousness”
feature Baker on a ghost-hall piano, and Mars bouncing off
the sax rafters. More scorch on #6, with Baker doing outer
space knobbing. #4 has the most chameleion action, a soft
almost sweet center just before 3 minutes in, then Mars,
dances with the moonlight solo for about two minutes, before
another minor maelstrom sets in. Maybe that’s the hit
track. Other Explanations of course welcomed. Tip o’ the speaker
to KFJC’s Daryl Licht for lighting this one up!

-Thurston Hunger