West Coast abstractionist shorts: Smudges, Steuart Liebig, Jon Raskin, Rich Halley.

smudges cover.jpeg
The Smudges, "Song and Call" (Cryptogramophone). The lawful cello & violin couple of Maggie Parkins & Jeff Gauthier behave as one mind in a collection of original works and improvs, plus a couple of intense engagements with friends' compositions. Tight yet flexible, Parkins (savory) & Gauthier (sweet) devote their classical chops to a broad range of counterpoint, fugue, dirge and drone, augmented by tasteful electronics and a code of caffeinated lyricism. The rhythms of the human heart mix with the sounds of nature, whether goatish leaps, the slowed-down birdsongs of the title track or the koi-pond raindrops of Tom Flaherty's "Release." In two and a half minutes of changes from desert mourning to devoted optimism, Guy Klucevsek's introductory "Music of Chants" summarizes the Smudges' life story -- a study in unity and harmony, and that don't come easy. Releases Feb. 18. Preview and pre-order here. Follow the piecemeal availability of the 25-year Cryptogramophone catalog on Bandcamp here,) beginning with Nels Cline Feb. 18 and continuing every two weeks with artists such as Bennie Maupin, Alex Cline, Myra Melford and Mark Dresser.

Steuart Liebig, "Nature Morte" Composer Liebig quotes Dante's "Inferno" to introduce the modern hellscape as imagined through the circuits of modular synthesizers. Morse funk prods the ghosts of malefactors howling in subterranean darkness. Light filters in . . . Heaven's distant rays? No, just the glow from icy fire as the traveler nears the pit. But heavy footsteps ascend to misty realms of stasis, and finally the chimes of heaven ring clear amid the beating of gossamer wings. So moving. And ultimately, so hopeful. Listen/buy here.

Jon Raskin Quartet, "Singing Songs as One" An exceptionally rich sound field defines this 2009 radio concert by the ensemble of ROVA saxist Raskin. Avant, yes, but the individual and collective statements by Raskin, trumpeter Liz Albee, keyboardist-percussionist Gino Robair and guitarist John Shiurba compel attention and never seem gratuitous. The clustered strings rub your skin like gravel in clay; the sustained synth on the title track draws through your earholes like dental floss; Raskin is seagull one moment, foghorn the next. It ends with what Hendrix would have considered a freedom anthem -- if they play that at ballgames, I'll rise. Listen/buy here.

Rich Halley, "Boomslang" Few perpetuate the Ornette/Dolphy tradition with greater glee & groove than Portland saxist Halley's quartet. Carson Halley's tom-heavy drums tumble with Clyde Reed's mobile bass, motivating the brotherly front line of Dan Clucas (rapier cornet) and Halley (bullwhip reeds). They surely rehearsed, but must sound just as together when they don't. Listen/buy here.