Scanner & the Post Modern Jazz Quartet – Blink of an Eye

This doesn’t necessarily imply that the electronic elements of these compositions must necessarily act as second-class citizens. No, what’s important is that both elements work together to allow the overall sound to remain “natural,” as if one could not exist without the other.

We hear this on tunes such as “Involuntary Reflex,” we have skittery electronic percussion modernizing a set repeated set of chord changes. As the composition progresses, chiming pedal tones begin to float out on top of Jamal’s vibraphone lines, giving the feeling of decay as those tones remain alone while the other instruments drop away. A somewhat similar approach is taken during “A Galaxy of Winking Dots,” with shimmery notes reflecting off of Shipp’s piano musings.

More aggressive transformations are presented on tracks such as “Dreaming With You At My Side” and “Not A Frame Earlier Or Later,” where it sounds like the entire quartet has been pulled into Scanner’s software, emerging draped with reverb and extra resonances. It’s almost like listening to a person thinking about the music: a meta-composition.

So whether it’s the descent into chaos of their take on Ellington’s “C Jam Blues” or futuristic swing of “Most With The Least,” Blink of an Eye has a lot to offer, presenting thought-provoking music that lives somewhere in the middle of the aforementioned Braxton/Teitelbaum-to-Lucier spectrum. Let’s hope for a sequel.

Scanner with The Post Modern Jazz Quartet – Blink of an Eye by Thirsty Ear Recordings