Search - Patrick Zimmerli :: Expansion (not an Import, available from Allegro in Portland)

Zimmerli rules

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 03/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With his third disc as leader, Patrick Zimmerli has nuanced his out, edgy, avant-garde approach into something entirely remarkable. Whereas he seemed to be desperately seeking his proper method in his previous CDs as leader, here he lands on it with absolute aplomb. Weird, out, anti-smooth (again, thanks to Greg Taylor for the vocab for music of this type) jazz--that's what's going down here.Don't be put off by the nearly inaccessible initial vibe of the originals. Yes, for me, they only come into intelligibility in the context of the standards, but, if one sticks with them, they yield the biggest payoff. Odd, mesmeric, weirdly-morphing, they will take repeated listenings before yielding up their sonic secrets. And that's one of the mysteries and glories of this disc: The listener is subjected to uncompromising initial aural outness with weird Zimmerli originals BEFORE being given the opportunity of getting on board with the proceedings via jazz-standard access-points.Why do this? Because the eventual payoff explodes all expectations, rocketing the aural adventures into altogether uncharted territory. And it wouldn't've happened with such spectacularness if access had been granted first by deconstructed standards.Yes, there's an almost incomprehensible trade-off: How many listeners, e.g., will quit on "Sand," the entirely remarkable first song on the disc? How many will just bag it, thinking this is too out there for me? What a risk Zimmerli has taken with this uncompromising approach! But, as I say, the payoff is so huge, that the listener-loss can almost be justified. In any case, one has to commend the cojones involved in such a strategy.For those of you who, like me, haven't the extensive, radical out-jazz bona fides, by all means visit the brilliantly deconstructed and put back together originals, "Evidence" and "Invitation," first; they will provide hermeneutical access to the originals, grease the skids, as it were, for the more out originals. More intrepid souls, those thoroughly familiar with avant-weirdness, may, perhaps, want to bypass the covers and plunge right into the full-Monty avant-garde. To you, I tip my hat; I readily acknowledge my aural unsophistication and timidity, and salute your erudition.Bottom line: Don't miss this out-glory, this magisterial mayhem."