Dave Burrell has been heard in a variety of jazz settings over the years; the veteran pianist has embraced free jazz at its most extreme, but he is certainly accomplished as an inside/outside player. Recorded live at the University of Pennsylvania's Houston Hall in Philadelphia in 2005,
Consequences finds
Burrell forming a cohesive duo with percussionist
Billy Martin (of
Medeski, Martin & Wood fame). There are no other musicians on board --
Consequences is strictly
Burrell's acoustic piano and
Martin's captivating percussion -- and the two musicians enjoy a consistently strong rapport during a set that passionately celebrates the pleasures of totally outside free jazz.
Consequences is not mildly avant-garde; it is very avant-garde, and the influence of
Cecil Taylor's blistering pianism is impossible to miss.
Taylor, of course, is hardly the only pianist who has influenced
Burrell along the way --
Burrell also appreciates everyone from
Thelonious Monk and
Bud Powell to
Jelly Roll Morton -- but on this CD,
Taylor is
Burrell's most obvious influence (which is not to say that
Burrell allows his own personality to become obscured; he is his own man and has been for a long time). And thanks to
Taylor's inspiration,
Consequences is as dissonant and abstract as it is passionate. It is also uncompromising.
Consequences is not recommend to listeners who haven't developed a taste for radical players like
Taylor and
Marilyn Crispell, but those who do appreciate the more extreme side of avant-garde jazz will find a lot to enjoy about
Burrell's inspired outside duets with
Martin. ~ Alex Henderson