Trombonist and bandleader
Chris Abelen assembled a strange crew for
Dance of the Penguins; none of the musicians are his regular bandmates, but that's half the fun of the record. Beginning with Dutch überguitarist
Corrie van Binsbergen, and including avant wild men, bassist
Wilbert de Joode and tenor saxophonist
Tobias Delius, as well as understated amateur -- but fully competent and original -- drummer
Charles Huffstadt (he's a psychiatrist by trade) and you have an ensemble who is all about the tight, brief, and riveting compositions of
Abelen. Nothing here is over seven and a half minutes, and that's only one piece. Most of the works here range from just over two minutes to under four with only a pair of exceptions. The tight, rhythm-heavy jazz of
Abelen is full of gorgeous lyrical ideas and harmonic principles that are generous to the entire ensemble. The length of his compositions put the heat on a soloist to make every note count -- and they do. "Matt 47" with
van Binsbergen's understated yet distorted guitar comping is remarkable for how much she gets done against the saxophone and the trombone (à la
Monk), and the way
de Joode and
Huffstadt dance around each other in negative space, neither one straying from or keeping time. "Who's Next" is a lightning rod for
van Binsbergen; her spare, elegant choice of notes is nonetheless a popping electrical feast of choice arpeggio, and
Delius' off-kilter note-for-note harmonic development challenges
Abelen in all the right intervals. Given that the piece is a bit over five minutes, that's an eternity for this band. The closer, "Hoover," must be named for the vacuum cleaner as the ensemble playing two harmonic lines in three different pitches plays as if they were sucking all the music up from the earth. Note as the tune reaches its climax,
Abelen's punch-drunk solo giving in to
van Binsbergen's screaming guitar line that carries it out; it leaves the listener breathless, and, at under 40 minutes, clamoring for more.