Joe McPhee's working quartet, with Frank Lowe on tenor, David Prentice on violin, and the late, great Charles Moffett on drums, was recorded over two days in 1996 in a very relaxed setting. McPhee has always been a bandleader who interest in the musicians he's playing with is paramount. And he... [+] Expand

Joe McPhee's working quartet, with Frank Lowe on tenor, David Prentice on violin, and the late, great Charles Moffett on drums, was recorded over two days in 1996 in a very relaxed setting. McPhee has always been a bandleader who interest in the musicians he's playing with is paramount. And he explores the various groupings here with the same restless spirit and graceful aplomb as on other recordings: there are solos, duos, trios and quartets. The music is quiet for the most part, recorded according to musical dynamics not by recording flaw. The beautiful exploratory quartet piece that opens the album is the key to grasping its beauty. "Something Sweet, Something Tender" features Lowe's tenor complementing McPhee's alto and soprano saxophones, braced tonally by Prentice's violin and underscored sparely by Moffett. For nearly 15 minutes, these four wind around and through each other, providing a lyrical foundation to the most exploratory of improvising. Later, on "Dark Doing," a more up-tempo ride through the same amount of time, Moffett is pushing and pulling at the various players to close in on the beat. When McPhee's alto and Lowe's tenor unite, finally, in a flowing line of staggered harmonic sweetness, playing at half the rhythmic time, it's Prentice who turns the modality on its ear and leaves them in the center, trying to reconcile to one another how all three parts fit, while Moffett just choogles along. This is exciting, like listening to these players walk on the knife's edge before finding a way to make the harmonic invention, and the lyric resolution, work. By the end, it's a breathless and beautiful tapestry of multiphonic jazz art. Legend Street Two is further evidence why Joe McPhee is the real guy to watch in the 21st century; it feels like he's just getting warmed up. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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