Ben Allison
Action-Refraction
Palmetto Records
Combining seemingly
unrelated
genres or interpreting
songs in
an unusual way
is nothing new or groundbreaking, but
bassist Ben Allison’s new release,
Action-
Refraction, is full of musical oxymorons that
blur the line between alt-rock, jazz, and
even classical music. Allison established
his name as a composer with his previous
albums, which contained mostly original
material done in his unique and sometimes
quirky style. For this release, he decided
to take a collection of tunes that have
inspired him over the years and turn them
on their head.
You can tell from the beginning of the
opening track, Thelonious Monk’s “Jackieing,”
that this isn’t a typical jazz session.
Allison and drummer Rudy Royston create
a lopsided, broken feel underneath
the melody--which compliments Monk’s
angular style perfectly. Longtime Allison
bandmate, guitarist Steve Cardenas, makes
his presence felt with the ringing, distorted
arpeggios that open P.J. Harvey’s “Missed.”
Throughout the album, Cardenas and
Allison have an interplay that goes beyond
what is (or isn’t) written on the page. For
this session, Allison wanted to extend
past pop and jazz standards by arranging
modern classical composer Samuel Barber’s
“St. Ita’s Vision” into a synth-filled exploration
(thanks to keyboardist Jason Linder’s
Prophet 08) that shows a Sun Ra influence.
Saxophonist Michael Blake floats the
melody of the Carpenter’s “We’ve Only
Just Begun” over a frenetic rhythmic
foundation that feels like the rhythm section
doubled up on their Starbucks order.
Never straying too far from the melody,
Blake improvises in and around the notes
finally building up to a sustained climax
in the final chorus. The sole original
on the album, “Broken,” has guitarist
Brandon Seabrook kicking things off with
an effects-laden sound collage of a solo
that makes me wonder exactly what is on
his pedalboard. In the liner notes, Allison
describes the influences of this tune as a
mix of Karel Goeyvaerts and Yngwie. If
anything, Ben Allison is out to prove that
improvised music can exist outside of the
concert halls and underground jazz clubs
that have housed the ghosts of Bird, Miles,
and Coltrane over the last few decades.
This is the type of music that pushes a
genre forward and opens the ears of a new
generation of musicians simply by altering
the reference points.