By playing different songs after several more years of further developing their chemistry, Science Friction’s ‘No Tamales on Wednesday’ qualifies as a welcome official ‘new’ album by this long-defunct Tim Berne group.

In the end, the Sunny Five’s ‘Candid’ is a jam record but in this case, the jams expose just how scary talented this assemblage truly is.

We often hear about recordings ostensibly made without regard to rules, preconceptions and guidelines in pursuit of a mode of expression that’s pure and original. Marc Ducret’s ‘Palm Sweat’ actually sounds exactly like it was made that way.

‘5’ is a “new” set of old recordings by Tim Berne’s Bloodcount featuring the special sauce that guitarist Marc Ducret added to this supergroup quartet from the ’90s.

The two long pieces of ‘inSOMNIA’ could be regarded as jazz symphonies, but Tim Berne applies his small-ensemble principles to them and we discover just how utterly scalable his ideas truly are.

‘The Fantastic Mrs. 10’ boils down to Matt Mitchell’s simple words: Tim Berne’s designs provide a context for insanity. Sweet insanity.

About three and a half years ago, I passed along some thoughts on a young, up-and-coming trombone player from Switzerland, Samuel Blaser. You May Also Like: Michael Formanek Quartet, w/ Tim Berne, Craig Taborn + Gerald Cleaver – ‘Other Zones’ (2022) Tim Berne’s Bloodcount – ‘5’ (1997; 2021 issue) MarcRead More