Michael Bisio and Michael Monhart go back together for decades, much of that time during when they were living in Seattle. Bass master Bisio is perhaps best known as Matthew Shipp’s long time anchorman, while the saxophonist Monhart is a Jungian psychoanalyst who’s part of an electro-acoustic project we dig called Triptet. A couple of years after they both moved to NYC in 2005, the bassist and saxophonist got with a new friend, drummer Ben Chadabe, and recorded a set of improvisations under the moniker ‘MMBC’ that for some reason or another stayed shelved all this time. Recently, Bisio rightly felt it was time for these sessions to get out to the public and so he’s posted it up on his Bandcamp page (the CD version will come later).
This ‘new to you’ release MMBC Terma may have collected some dust but the performances are alive and as fresh as yesterday. “mmbc 01” is free rhythm-wise but flows out melodically and naturally, with all participants acting as a single unit. Monhart plays “mmbc 02” virtually alone, playing his saxophone like a wood flute, like a voice crying out from a savannah, jungle or rainforest, then shifting to a pure tenor sound that pure and gorgeous.
Bisio saws majestically on “mmbc 03,” and what starts out as funereal grows ever more restless as Monhart and Chadabe nudge their way in. Like a chamber orchestra, they are able to carefully modulate the cadence as they elegantly come down from the apex. Bisio’s circular bass line forms the foundation for the Zen-line movement of “mmbc 04,” and Chadabe’s lithe drum colorations effectively add to it.
Chadabe gets the stage all to himself for “mmbc 05,” where he fully displays his carefully calibrated approach where timbre and tone matter as much as percussion. A pretty pattern eventually emerges from Bisio’s bass musings on “mmbc 06” and then Chadabe nudges it forward as Monhart hints at some Albert Ayler-isms. As a Tibetan translator, Monhart knows a thing or two about Buddhism and “mmbc 07” has that transcendent, Zen-like quality that pours out from the bell of his horn.
Bisio’s signature wandering bass figure shows up splendidly on “mmbc 08,” finding simpatico with Monhart’s own, searching sax. The heavy influence of the late Milford Graves is evident in Chadabe’s drumming, which incorporates Asian as well as African rhythmic styles.
For the ninth and last track, Monhart starts inside and works his way outside, showing mastery of both sides. When he’s done, Bisio’s plucks and Chadabe’s patters combine as one.
Like the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of burying treasure to be found later, MMBC Terma is a treasure of freeform jazz that’s emerged after almost fourteen years hidden away. Together, Michael Bisio, Michael Monhart and Ben Chadabe created the sound of spiritual fulfillment.
MMBC Terma can now be obtained through Bandcamp.
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