Joe Lovano – Streams of Expression – Blue Note

(Joe Lovano, tenor sax/alto clarinet/Aulochrome/Gunther Schuller – conductor of 13-piece band incl. John Hicks, piano)

This is Lovano’s second collaboration with the versatile Gunther Schuller, who played French horn on the original recording of The Birth of the Cool Suite.  Their first album was Rush Hour of 1995. This time Schuller arranged and conducted three movements from the suite Birth of the Cool, with Lovano handling the Streams of Expression Suite which brackets it. There is also a big band original from trumpeter Tim Hagens, Buckeyes, plus two trio numbers: Blue Sketches and Big Ben – the latter a blues dedicated to the great Ben Webster.  On the final two tracks Lovano introduces a unique new instrument, the Aulochrome, which is a double soprano sax with a keyboard down the center.

Lovano says the Birth of the Cool rethinking is dedicated to the memory of Gil Evans, John Lewis and Miles Davis. Moon Dreams is Evan’s composition, Lewis is represented by Move and the familiar cooly-swinging melody of Boplicity belongs to Davis. Schuller wrote new material in the form of a Prelude, two Interludes and a Postlude to frame the three original tunes.  Lovano’s own Streams of Expression suite is more in the Third Stream bag, with less tonal melodies than the Birth of the Cool. Fire Prophet, the final part of the suite, is related by Lovano to the sound of Rahsaan Roland Kirk and ventures into the wildest “out” jazz statement on the disc – also using the prototype Aulochrome much as Kirk used weird instruments such as the manzello and strich.

Tracks:

– John Henry