For the 2013 Chicago Jazz Festival, drummer Jack DeJohnette
put together a supergroup of his colleagues who were founding members of the
AACM collective. Joining him are Henry Threadgill on alto saxophone and flute,
Roscoe Mitchell on sopranino, soprano and alto saxophones, recorder and flute,
Muhal Richard Abrams on piano and Larry Gray on double bass and violoncello. The
leadoff track, “Chant,” opens with piano and saxophone building and developing the
music slowly. A second saxophone with a raw tone builds the tension further as
the saxophones take flight and swirl around one another. The bass and drums
support is very striking as is the piano, which moves in waves, laced with
darker hues. The piano, bass and drum unit plumbs the very marrow of jazz,
emerging into a wonderful section of fierce drumming and squalls of saxophone.
This is an astonishing performance, with extraordinary intensity and powerful
emotion. “Jack 5” then moves the music into more abstract territory, opening
with subtle drums and piano, and the saxophones sliding in while keeping the
wide open feel to the music. DeJohnette is always the consummate team player
but he allows himself to step out here for a drum solo that hangs open in space
and time, but is quite disciplined throughout. Some soft and lonely flute opens
“This” as the music keeps the notions of open vistas at the forefront. There is
a delicate and precise interlude for flute and bowed bass, and the leaders
rolling drums keep the music from becoming two somber. Lush piano on “Museum of
Time” harmonized horns and spirals of piano developing a floating, dreamlike
sensation. Drums thunder underneath as the horns rise in power and lift the
music skyward. There is an exploratory piano, bass and drum section, punctuated
with the occasional flyby by one of the saxophones. Abrams is really the star
here; his piano playing is brilliant and focused throughout. “Leave Don’t Go
Away” has Abrams as the focal point again with his beautiful touch on display along
with with skittish bass and drums. The trio gains speed at a remarkable rate
before allowing the saxophones back into the game. “Ten Minutes” ends the
performance with a completely improvised piece, which develops the life and
excitement that the band showed in the opener. The saxophones, of different
pitches really take flight here and move the music to a whole new level.
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