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Chris Speed, Deviantics (SGL 1524-2) Tenor sax/clarinetist Speed combines hyper beats and ambient textures with eastern-inspired melodies and rhythms to expand and derange the realm of NY's Downtown Jazz/New Music. With the same remarkable band as on his debut Yeah No (SGL 1517-2) - Cuong Vu (trumpet), Skuli Sverrisson (electric bass), and Jim Black (drums) - this is a jazz record of unusual power, concentration and feeling. Speed is well known for his recordings with various Downtown stars: John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Tim Berne, Myra Melford, Mark Dresser, etc. His Balkan/middle-eastern folk jazz group Pachora (also featuring Black and Sverrisson, along with Brad Shepik) has two very well-received CDs out on Knitting Factory. (Audiophile-quality 20-bit recording by Jim Anderson.) "Chris Speed is a talent to watch out for... [His] open-ended compositions span a variety of styles that spur the players to bring out their best for the ensemble and the tune. Whether tackling a Middle Eastern-flavored groove ("Wheatstone"), ethereal free improvisation ("Tulip") or punchy, funk tinged Don Cherry-meets Herbie Hancock-at-Jimmy Guiffre's-house jazzz ("Reconnoiter"), Speed & Co. can do it all... The is The Stuff, the Stuff that reminds one that jazz is a virile organism despite some folk's attempts to turn it into an uptown confection or a museum piece. (Wynton who?)" —Mark Keresman, Waterfront Week "The irregular meters, distinctive phrasing and spiky harmonies of Eastern European and Middle Eastern music provide ample fodder for creative improvisation, when put to good use. Deviantics... [draws] heavily from progressive jazz, experimental rock and numerous other styles. Cuong Vu often employs near and far-Eastern scales, but usually as a fleeting phrase in a series of convincing ideas. The same poignant restlessness fuels Black's collage of breakbeats with traditional percussion. Speed plays more tenor saxophone than clarinet in this context, and when he does channel Coltrane (as on "Valya"), the effect is compelling. What these musicians have crafted is rapidly developing into an oevre." —Nate Chinen, Philadelphia City Paper

Pith Remix Reconnoiter Eddie Cano Tulip Wheatstone Valya Syncretics East Europe Rundown