Joe Morris - Wildlife (2009) torrent

AUM Fidelity: AUM056
http://www.aumfidelity.com/aum056.html

* Joe Morris: bass
* Petr Cancura: tenor and alto saxophone
* Luther Gray: drums

http://www.joe-morris.com/
http://www.petrcancura.com/

Recorded at Riti Studios, Guilford, CT on March 16, 2008.

Review
~~~~~~

by Phil Freeman
http://www.allmusic.com/album/wildlife-mw0000820552

Joe Morris plays bass, not guitar, on this set of four lengthy improvisations
taped in March 2008. The trio features tenor and alto saxophonist Petr Cancura
and longtime Morris collaborator Luther Gray on drums; their interaction is
blustery and energetic, filled with the fire of free jazz as practiced by
Charles Gayle, Peter Brötzmann, and other modern-day followers in the footsteps
of Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, and Pharoah Sanders. There's a lot of Ayler in
Cancura's tone; he's a powerful player with a strong sense of melody, always
retaining an essential cohesion within his solos, even at their most
fervid. Gray is all over the kit, guiding the other two men and maintaining a
forceful momentum; he both introduces and concludes "Geomantic" with solos that
recall Max Roach in their use of toms and ability to make the drums seem to
sing. Morris' bass playing is as fascinating as ever. He begins "Thicket" with
an assault on the strings that's reminiscent of the guimbri, a gut-stringed
instrument played by the Gnawa tribes of North Africa. Cancura picks up the
hint and solos in a manner that echoes Pharoah Sanders' work with the Gnawa on
his Trance of the Seven Colors album. The third track, "Crow," is a bluesy
ballad on which Cancura sounds like his tongue has swelled to twice its normal
thickness, and the upbeat "Nettle," which closes the disc, features an
astonishing, extended Morris solo as well as a fiery crescendo before things
draw to a meditative conclusion. This album is a masterful showcase for three
brilliant musicians.