Featured Artist: Jeff Arnal - Gordon Beeferman - Seth Misterka
CD Title: Rara Avis
Year: 2004
Record Label: Generate Records
Style: Free Jazz / Avante Garde
Review: This New York City-based jazz/improvising trio emerges as a cohesive unit, meshing superior technical ability with extreme imaginative powers. And for my money, drummer Jeff Arnal is one of the finest free-jazz thinkers in the business. He often encircles saxophonist Seth Misterka and electric pianist Gordon Beeferman with acutely integrated pulses and hues. Therefore, the band navigates thru a potpourri of nooks and crannies, where the respective musicians often take on various rhythmic roles. Simply put, there’s quite a bit of contrast throughout the majority of these disparate works. Aided by a touch of studio echo, the music shines forth amid a series of jabbing outcries, laced with abstract Latin beats and circular passages. The musicians also explore alien soundscapes and sanguine environs. And while the artists’ muse resides within a free-form methodology, they often execute richly thematic frameworks. In addition, Misterka and Beeferman’s inventive soloing spots are integral components via a fusion of rapidly fired lines and complex chord voicings. Ultimately, this outing stands on its own, and should be separated from the preponderance of free-flowing jam sessions that sometimes furnish this genre with a less than desirable reputation. (Recommended…)
JazzReview.com
