| Listening to Ke Ala Mano (The Way of
the Shark), the debut from The All Rectangle, one would never guess that this
cornucopia of sounds was being produced by less than a handful of musicians. Tightly
wound bass vamps slink along underneath propulsive drumming while a conglomeration of
sounds and melodies float over the top of it all. While it may be hard to believe, in
fact there are only three full time members of this group: bassist Alana Rocklin, Brad
"Kali" Bowden on electronics, and Derek Crawford on drums.
The trio is aided by several special guests on
the recording, most notably trumpeter/composer Mark Kirschenman, present of 3 of 5
compositions, whose trumpet includes a contact microphone inside its mouthpiece that
enables him to create some amazing sounds and textures. The second tune, "Little
Friend" contains a truly nasty improvisation that I can only assume Kirschenman is
responsible for as no guitar player is credited on the track. He is able, with the
help of his modification, to create sounds not usually associated with a linear instrument
such as a trumpet including, as on "Little Friend", distorted power chords.
Throughout the recording, tunes alternate
between a series of vamps held down by the rhythm team of Rocklin and Crawford while
Bowden is given free reign over the top for his electronics and keyboards. However,
this band is more than just simplistic patterns holding up wandering sonic
experimentation. Strong melodies abound on Ala Ke Mano such as on the
driving "Dr. Such and Such", which also features a nice bass improvisation by
Rocklin. While comparisons to 70s era Miles Davis would be the easy way out, there's
more involved in The All Rectangle than just funk-fusion. Abstraction mingles with
the obvious in ways that keep the mix interesting. The 15 minute "El Toro",
featuring guitarist Fareed Haque, begins with very open, spacious sounds that take off
around the 10 minute mark into a post-bop guitar work-out for Haque. And "Pinky
Taun Taun" opens with a riff that Black Sabbath would be proud of, then takes off
into uncharted territories.
The All Rectangle create some truly satisfying
moments on this debut. It will be interesting to watch their future to see where
they take the next step. This is a very strong first chapter.
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