Mutual Aid Music
Pleasure Of The Text, 2021
8/10
The trumpeter and composer Nate Wooley offers a very ambitious effort here, where 8 compositions unfold across 2 discs that welcome Ingrid Laubrock’s saxophone, Joshua Modney’s violin, Mariel Roberts’ cello, piano by Sylvie Courvoisier and Cory Smythe, and percussion thanks to Matt Moran and Russell Greenberg.
“Mutual Aid Music I” starts the listen with soulful trumpet as light percussion sets the mood for an intimate and exploratory 10 minutes that blurs the lines of jazz, improv and noise, and “Mutual Aid Music II” follows with strategic sax entering the dizzying display of vibraphone and piano acrobatics.
Halfway through, “Mutual Aid Music IV” offers a flurry of percussive and ambient ideas that reside somewhere between free jazz and calculated chaos, while “Mutual Aid Music I-I” presents squealing violin amid a cinematic quality and buzzes lightly and mysteriously.
The creativity remains strong until the end, where “Mutual Aid Music III-I” leads with graceful keys before segueing into a dreamy landscape of minimal charm, and “Mutual Aid Music IV-I” exits the listen with a busy execution of keys, brass, percussion and strings working together synergistically with the end goal of divine chemistry.
Thematically, the record surrounds the idea of mutual aid as community drive and willingness to give and receive accordingly. Similarly, the musicians present are asked how their contributions will effect the ensemble, and the resulting balance, support and selfless approach makes for a very unique adventure that you’ll want to revisit again.
Travels well with: Scott Wollschleger & Karl Larson- Dark Days; Curtis K. Hughes- Tulpa