For
Heavenly Breakfast, drummer
Rich West decided to work again with a quintet, but retained only the services of trumpeter Bruce Friedman from the group that appeared on
Bedouin Hornbook. Ex-
Motor Totemist Guild Lynn Johnston (sax and clarinets) completes the small yet agile horn section; electric bassist Dan Krimm replaces
Scot Ray and his tuba; finally, the electric guitar is out and the electric piano in, here performed by Emily Beezhold. Although the group on
Bedouin Hornbook did a fine job at going through
West's whimsical charts, this lineup is much better at filling them in and twisting them slightly out of shape. The opening track, "Bloomsday" is hands-down the best track on the album. It is raucous, driving, and surprisingly tight despite its 11 minutes.
West uses simple heads that he transforms in clever ways over funky grooves interspersed with episodes of structured improvisations. The piece evokes the
Frank Zappa of
Waka/Jawaka with a touch of George Lewis. None of the other six pieces on the album will reach that level of excitement again, but they still have plenty to offer. "Le Petomane" contains some quirky heads, while "Death Pledge" and "A Performer's Objective Is to Put Everyone to Sleep" feature strong, graphic score-based group improvising. Nevertheless, the album would have lost its momentum if it weren't for the concluding piece, "Glenn's Conducting." The longest number at 18 minutes, it provides another highlight, although not in the same register as "Bloomsday." After a long introductory dirge by
West (on accordion), Krimm, and bubbling electronics than might be coming from Beezhold's Korg MS2000, the group launches in a series of cut-and-paste sections of tutti lines and subgroup form improvisations. The piece is fractured, restless, but certainly eventful and entertaining, and
West succeeds in convincing the listener that the whole holds better together than its parts could lead you to believe.
Heavenly Breakfast is one of the nice avant-jazz surprises to come out of the West Coast in 2006. Recommended. ~ François Couture