Guitarist Ben Monder has had collaborative relationships with both saxophonist Tony Malaby and drummer Tom Rainey stretching back to the 90s, when he was just getting started. The record-buying/streaming public will now finally get to hear the fruits of these long-held bonds. Monder and Malaby had an ongoing project performing as a trio with a different drummer, and Monder wanted to take this bass-less threesome into the studio with Rainey and make a document of the venture in this way. Fortunately, though, they ended up approaching it a little bit differently.
Live At the 55 Bar was captured just in time, performed in early March, 2020 only days before lockdown. With the crowd noise removed (save for applause at the final seconds of the album) and songs never heard before performed, this is essentially a ‘studio’ album recorded at a live venue. There’s little sign of the more challenging acoustics from recording in a bar and yet, there’s all the urgency of a live performance. Along with the engineer Joseph Branciforte, they managed to capture the best of both worlds.
These three long-form group improvisations act like hurricanes, beginning meek but gathering up force as they move down a path that we have a general idea of in advance but still don’t know exactly how they’ll end up. It makes for some pretty bracing music. Ben Monder expertly leverages technology to expand his assignment into two roles: that of a traditional guitarist, and another as a texturalist, sometimes blending the dual duties together.
“Suite 3320 — Part I” takes its time simmering but it’s well worth your patience. Starting out with all three in a hushed mood, Rainey’s brushed drums begin to get agitated and slowly ropes in Malaby. Monder is the last to succumb and when he does, the dearth has fully transformed into a din, backing away again just as it reaches the point of going off the rails. Monder’s quietly sizzling guitar reminds us that the tension remains, it’s just lurking underneath.
Malaby, it should be noted, sometimes plays in a diction somewhat resembling that of his frequent alto sax foil Tim Berne. As he makes those Berne-esque wails, Monder piles effects on his guitar and it becomes an icy backdrop as Tom Rainey makes hay in a way that both keeps a gyrating rhythm and keeping close to what Malaby is playing. Soon, all three are propelling each other to ratchet up the intensity again. Just as Malaby reaches the highest notes he could attain, Rainey shuts down, leaving Monder’s sheets of drone nearly alone, setting the stage for the ambient ending.
Rainey rumbles muscularly underneath at the opening minutes of “Suite 3320 — Part II” and if things seem a little different this time, it’s probably because Malaby had swapped his tenor for soprano. Bumping up against Rainey’s snare, he makes friction that propels him to take on more and more chances. Monder finally boils over and scraps with Malaby to reach a furious release after which the guitarist retreats to infinite feedback squalls. As Rainey patters around on his tom-toms, Malaby tries to communicate in the same language and Monder devises a dark melody from the notes the saxophonist is choosing.
Before long, the three collectively build up toward another great discharge, Malaby first suggesting bop and then free jazz as Monder pours out metal shards. The commotion dies down without much fanfare as Monder and Rainey recedes into the background, leaving Malaby to make final, lonesome statements.
Tony Malaby plays free on “Suite 3320 — Part III” from the get-go, and eventually so do Monder and Rainey. Malaby finds a descending chord pattern as the frenzy stops and the other two regroup around that. As this idea runs its course, Monder’s enchanting pedal effects swell up as Malaby blows desperate cries from his tenor sax and Rainey devises delicate dances around it, setting up for a slow fade out.
Ben Monder, Tony Malaby and Tom Rainey are superb jazz musicians but at the 55 Bar, they were clearly reaching for something beyond the bounds of jazz or any other genre. Not unlike those astounding live improvs by Jonas Hellborg, Shawn Lane and Jeff Sipe back in the 1990’s-early 2000’s, this trio went into their show with an open mindset that enabled everyone to play at their highest level and with genuine ardor.
Live At the 55 Bar is dropping on February 26, 2021, from Sunnyside Records.
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