This pairing of
Steve Lacy's sextet -- featuring
Steve Potts (alto and soprano),
Irene Abei (voice),
Bobby Few (piano),
Jean-Jacques Avenel (bass), and
John Betsch (drums) -- that had been together from the late '70s through the early '90s with six American and European improvisers is a mixed bag. For openers, the set is long on poetics and short on swinging or blowing aesthetics. It's so weird to think that
Lacy decided to explore the various textures of musical space with a band twice the normal size. The greatest distractions are the vocals of
Abei and Nicholas Isherwood. Next, Sonhando Estwick's vibes take the emphasis off two fine improvising jazz pianists,
Few and
Sam Kelly. Finally, given that there are two saxophonists, a trombone player, and a trumpeter, there is no fire, only art. It's only on the album's closer, "The New Moon," that the band gels. There's a trancelike quality in the harmonic invention among the horns. It's modal and the lines are long, weaving into and out of one another for a layered effect. You can feel
Lacy less in his role of conductor (read: "controller") and more in his proper place as bandleader and composer. This may seem harsh given the monster talent of
Steve Lacy but, put quite simply, this is an experiment that, with the exception of one track, didn't work.