feature photo: Mitch Friedman
Some of the current crop of notables from Chicago’s celebrated progressive music scene got together and formed a band named after that town’s most celebrated football team. 85bears combines the talents of Jason Stein (bass clarinet), Greg Ward (alto sax) and Matt Lux (electric bass). Drums duties are shared by Marcus Evans and Chad Taylor. Their self-titled album is nominally “electro-acoustic” free jazz, which is usually winning for me, but there is actually very little of the “electro” part of it going on yet carries on that vibe throughout anyway.
The most straightforward description of this music is simply, ‘improvised;’ it lives or dies on the individual, ad-libbing prowess of each musician involved. These examples of Chicago’s finest can not only thrive in these settings, they know each other well enough to thrive as a unit. A lot of these performances are short sketches, meaning these guys precisely make their point and get out.
Hell, the first three songs together clock in at under five minutes and normally I might skip over devoting words to fifty-nine seconds of noodling called “Lament For Sweetness” but Ward be-bopping over Evans’ far-out sampling actually sounds hella cool. The next track is merely twice as long, but “Samurai Singletary” stands out from your regular progressive jazz fare, too. Maybe that’s because Lux is dropping low, fuzzy notes and Stein ornery bass clarinet is acting as an acoustic cousin to that bass, as Ward’s alto sax serves as his high-end sparring partner.
“Wilbur” is the first of songs recorded with no drums until Taylor dubbed in his later … some two years later. Ward and Stein are simul-extemporizing; Taylor locates the implied rhythm and taps it out largely on the rims like Morse code.
“Willie” doesn’t go fast like its namesake (Gault) did but the two horn guys are once again conversing with each other, just at an unhurried pace. They leave space for Lux and Evans to fill in with some loose-limbed playing of their own. Eventually, a nice little groove is located and soon everyone converges on that. “Gault” (they must really idolize this wideout) sees the return of Taylor, who offers up a torrent of drums that fits right in with Lux’s spidery bass.
“Fenick” demonstrates best the telepathy between Stein and Ward, who engage in a chase for making statements over each other and bouncing ideas off each other with ferocity. But for pure feel, “Soldiers Feel” is the go-to track, as the two get that real low-down blues-y passion.
85bears is coming at you on May 15, 2020 from Eyes & Ears Records. Pick up a copy from Bandcamp.
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