| Note: The following is a review of the LP "Our Night Together," one of four lps that Rear View Mirror was re-issued from. |
| CADENCE
The American Review ot Jazz & Blues SEPTEMBER 1982 Point::Counterpoint KRYSTALL KLEAR AND THE BUELLS - OUR NIGHT TOGETHER, K2B2 2169. |
| Flowers Pluck Themselves / Little RootieTootlie / Buejerk / When It Drips, It's Ready / Blues In White / Ben Addiction / Peete's Boogie. 5/14/81. Cum. Pers.: Marty Krystall, ten sax, b cl, vcl; Buell Neidlinger, b; Peter Erskine, d; Jerry Peters, org; Gene Cipriano,ts, b ob.
Buell Neidlinger has had a diverse career: symphony bassist, rock 'n' roller and undoubtedly the only improviser ever to record both with Cecil Taylor and David Grissman. Such a background might drive a person whacky, and this LP suggests that might have happened. But that's okay - "Our Night Together" works best at its goofiest. The highlight is a union of Monk's "Rootie Tootie" that's so jaunty it's almost inane. Saxist Marty Krystall has a tone so brawny it almost barks; he bridges Ayleresque shouts and r&b honks, and he can play. His falsetto and split tone control are enviable. The core unit of him and Buell and Weather Report's Peter Erskine have excellent rapport, Buell's hyperactive witty walking and Erskine's fine, rolling drumming light the fire under Krystall, and off he goes. Genuinely inane but no less effective is the tongue-in cheek, funk ode to Folger's coffee, "When It Drips, It's Ready," fueled byJerry Peters' swells and swirls at a Hammond B3. Peter's Jimmy Smith-Carla Bley synthesis - slightly zany but totally functional - spices a couple of other cuts as wall, including a slow blues that happily gets out of hand. Tenorist Gene Cipriano pins Marty for siamese-twin unison playing on the head of Krystall's delightfully intricate bop tune, "Ben Addiction." Really the only tracks that don't quite come off are the opener and the closer: "Flowers," a serious free belled that fails pull together, end "Pete's, Boogie," an inconclusive, darkly meandering piece (with Cipriano's bass oboe) on which Erskine takes over for a few minutes of unfocussed boiling. But why nitpick7 This unit is understatedy whimsical without being glib or shallow , and the playing's hot. You can't ask for much nore than that. -Kevin Whitahead Marty Krystall and Buell Neidllnger's first K2B2 recording, (Mar. '81, p. 54) found the two in partnenhip with trumpeter Warren Gale and drummer Billy Higgins, and received a wry positive review ("a very strong document"). This new one serves to reinforce that positive response. Although personnal is different (the trio of Krystall, Neidlinger, and Erskine is heard on the first two tracks; organist Peters is added on the next three; and Cipriano joins the three for the last two), the ovarall feeling of unabashed exuberance and joy of creating music is consistent throughout. Krystall is a robust tenor player who projects a strong openess in his playing. Many of the pieces have a sense of the blues that Krystall seems most attuned to. The one exception is the final track- an invocational piece using bass clarinet, bass oboe, arco bass, and percussion (whatever "boogie" thare is in the piece is lost on me). My only qulbbie with the recording is the organ contribution of Peten on "Buejerk"; for me, it just doesn't fit in very well. Nevertheless. this can be recommended for all interested in expressive and dedicated music making. -Carl Brauer |
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