Inevitably, some worthwhile jazz CDs will fall through the cracks. One such disc was
the Unbound's
Jazz Recidivists, which was recorded in 1992 and 1993 and released by the small Evergreen, CO-based Tapestry label in 1996. It isn't hard to see why
the Unbound have that name. The Unbound -- a pianoless quartet consisting of Pat Ireland on violin, the Rev. Dwight Frizzell on reeds, Eric George on bass, and James DeRigue on drums -- play mildly avant-garde post-bop that is loose, uninhibited, and free-spirited. However, their work is also relatively lyrical and melodic -- certainly by avant-garde standards.
Jazz Recidivists is far from an album of atonal chaos or screaming for the sake of screaming; an inside/outside approach prevails, but the material (some of which often incorporates East European and Middle Eastern elements) is generally more inside than outside.
Jazz Recidivists (which is perhaps 80 percent inside and 20 percent outside) never sounds the least bit confused or unfocused -- Ireland, Frizzell, George, and DeRigne obviously know exactly what they're doing, and memorable tracks like "Eat That Devil Dog," "Osiris Wobble," and "Essence of What You Are" sound like they were meant to happen. So even though
the Unbound are hardly coming from the Stanley Crouch/
Wynton Marsalis school of bop neoconservatism, they aren't ultra-radical either. They're left of center, but not nearly as far to the left as
Cecil Taylor or
Charles Gayle (just to give two examples of free jazz's brilliantly iconoclastic voices). The Unbound aren't iconoclasts as much as they're improvisers who like to keep their options open, and they show a great deal of promise on this excellent but overlooked CD. ~ Alex Henderson