Mezzacappa, a Bay Area-based bassist and composer, has assembled a kind of dream group, which I had the pleasure of hearing last night in Palo Alto. It was one of the best sets of music I have heard in a long time. The audience was– to put it mildly– sparse, but at least the performance afforded the band an opportunity to rehearse some pieces for Mezzacappa's upcoming residency at The Stone in New York, where one hopes the locals are a little more likely to turn out for some cutting edge improvisatory music. If you have the opportunity to hear them, do go.
Last night 5(ish) was a sextet, with Aaron Bennett on tenor, Kyle Bruckmann on oboes/electronics, Mark Clifford on vibes, Brett Carson at the piano, and Jordan Glenn on drums. The music is jazz, sorta... a structured soundscape that leaves space for individual and collective improvisation. At first listen I thought of Patricia Brennan's recent, fantastic album Breaking Stretch, but that album is more horn-heavy and rhythm-forward. Mezzacappa's ensemble has, if anything, more percussion, with drums, vibes, and Carson a decidedly percussive pianist, but the compositions– and percussionists– go for texture. It gets interesting when the two percussionists join the bassist in bowing their (metal) instruments.
Everybody in the band is a first-rate musician, playing challenging music that shifts from composed unison lines to odd rhythmic counterpoint. Bruckmann's rattles and chirps on the electronics fit right in, as did his oboe. Mark Clifford was a revelation, as was Jordan Glenn on the drums.
If I had one wish, it would be that the band devote a few more minutes of their set to swinging hard. As they showed in the evening's waltzy finale, they are more than capable. But that's a quibble.
