Farmers by Nature: Love and Ghosts (AUM Fidelity)
Farmers by Nature is an all-star jazz trio: pianist Craig Taborn, bassist William Parker, and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Though it is sonically inevitable that the piano tends to dominate such a group's sound, these guys are truly equals. All the tracks on this two-CD set (containing a pair of French concerts) were spontaneously generated by all three individuals listening acutely to each other. The 18-minute title track that kicks off the set does find Taborn most prominent, by a narrow margin, but then the quiet rhythmic etude "Without a Name" tilts the balance toward Cleaver and Parker.
Taborn's distinctive sense of harmony is constantly enlivening. Yes, this is free jazz in which harmony plays a great role; not "chord changes," nor modal vamps, but a rather a distinct coloring of the forward motion through the placement of complex and often dissonant chords, sometimes brilliant, sometimes subtle. Sometimes he achieves this with block chords punching through the texture, sometimes with shimmering lacework-like patterns that hover over/behind the actions of Parker and Cleaver. It is fascinating to hear Parker weave his part into/through these spontaneous harmonies, just as it is enrapturing how the disparate rhythms of the three players entwine in ever-shifting polyrhythmic counterpoint.
By the middle of the 16-minute "Aquilo," the increasingly interplay comes to a boil in a dynamic peak. However, despite the tracks and titles, the first four tracks on disc 1 make up one uninterrupted improvisation. Thus, "Aquilo" doesn't end, really; it's just that when Parker solos on the heels of the group's climax, that's a handy milestone by which to mark a new section, "Seven Years," which gradually builds again, this time more rhythmically emphatically on all players' parts, though Cleaver seems to lead the way here. Then "Massila" stands by itself, a more concise improvisation but constructed along similar principles.
That's enough of an idea of how this group functions that there's no need to similarly describe the second disc track by track; it is equally fresh, invigorating, and inspired without finding the players repeating themselves (in the meta sense; on occasion, most notably on "Comté," Taborn will use hypnotic repetition to complement the other players and propel the music). In particular, it is impressive how willing they are to start out quietly and play quietly for long stretches, not so common in free jazz. This is a strong contender for jazz album of the year.
Love and Ghosts will be released next Tuesday (August 12). This review is posted now so I can point out that Farmers by Nature is playing a release party this Saturday (8/9) at ShapeShifter Lab on a double bill with Darius Jones/Matthew Shipp, whose album Cosmic Lieder: The Darkseid Recital will also be released by AUM Fidelity on Tuesday. ("Darkseid" is not a typo.)