Sublime Meeting
Troy Collins | Lancaster, PA United States | 11/04/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
""First Look" is a powerhouse meeting of two iconic Chicagoans. Bassist Tatsu Aoki, founder of the Asian American jazz festival, and onetime president of Asian Improv Records, joins forces with legendary multi-instrumentalist Roscoe Mitchell, founder of the famed Art Ensemble of Chicago and charter member of the AACM. With decades of playing experience behind them, these two draw from an endless well of ideas to enrich this sublime studio session.
Veering from the austere and ceremonial opening and closing pieces, "In" and "Out" to the tumultuous "Dot," the duo embraces a myriad of emotions on this varied record. Opening with a bass vamp accompanied by Mitchell's delicate bell-like percussion, "In" gradually unfolds to reveal a tender flute solo at its center. Mitchell's alto arrives on the second piece and is his dominant horn for this intimate set, instead of his usual soprano. His playing ranges from the supple and breathy phrasing of a master to the overblown intensity of his earliest recordings. Mitchell has lost none of his fire in his fifty plus years playing, no small feat for as vigorous a musician as he.
Aoki acts as supporting figure, percussionist and melodist. When not holding down modal vamps or dueling episodically with Mitchell's tart, spastic alto, or bowing his instrument with lyrical intensity, he is hand drumming. The album's conceptual centerpiece, "The Journey" is a case in point. Beginning with a ceremonial percussive introduction, it slowly takes on the form of a bluesy bass ostinato with Mitchell's playful alto taking the lead. As the piece intensifies, Aoki switches back to percussion, dropping sporadic accents while Mitchell locks into a circular breathing tour-de-force that takes the tune out with a dissonantly minimalist mantra.
Aoki's achingly beautiful arco bowing can be heard to best effect on "Glide." With a melancholy but optimistic line, Aoki supports a delicate but earnest series of long tones from Mitchell's alto that are as heart-rendingly intense as his companion's ruminations. On the other end of the spectrum, "Dot" finds the two sparring in jabs and feints, fitful bass runs interlock with sputtered and frenzied alto blasts, back and forth they go, like boxers. Similarly intense "Yoshihashi" begins with a clarion call from Mitchell's keening alto and a forceful driving bass line before locking into the vamping structure. The album ends, much as it began, with "Out," all delicate percussion and flute.
Despite a few intense workouts, "First Look" is actually a rather measured and regal affair. Mitchell is the consummate searcher and Aoki a solid, but inventive collaborator. More than just a simple conversation between two masters, "First Look" is a stately and intriguing meeting of like minds."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1
