Dorgon

Here are 18 duet recordings between saxophonist and clarinet torturer Dorgon and drummer Laura Cromwell between 1997 and 1999. All of them were recorded in concert settings and all of them are concerned with the extremes of tonal and rhythmic expression. There are so few ways to approach a sax/clarinet drum record in America, but this pair does it better than most. Since there are 18 tracks here, the duo relied on their shorter pieces and how the single and sometimes double ideas of an improvisation took into consideration textures as well as tonal matters when erecting sonic palettes. "Zigaboo" (perhaps a tribute to New Orleans percussionist Zigaboo Modeliste) begins with a single clarinet tone and plays elongated notes -- one, two, and finally three -- before moving back to the root; it is accented by a syncopation on 4/4, but remains 4/4 nonetheless. Elsewhere, "Start," where a pseudo-reggae rhythm offers a stuttered start for Dorgon, who blows sparingly and inside the accents rather than over them, offers a view that the melody is in the rhythm rather than over it. On "Strainer/Cockfight," Dorgon goes through two different registers to offer a blues melody on top of a slow, angular swing theme, as Cromwell dances through with brushes, keeping the two separate before cutting loose and integrating them with her sticks and forcing Dorgon to narrow until they break down into one skronking whole. This is an interesting if disjointed album, and as such is not a blowing session, but an aesthetically motivated, gentle look at how dynamic, dramatic, and tonally varied such a recording can be if contextualized properly. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide