Ken Vandermark Acoustic Machine CD

The last two Vandermark 5 outings, Simpatico and Burn the Incline, were without a doubt sounds from a band coming into their own as a collective. Compositionally they seemed at the wall -- at the margin, or limit -- of where they could go as a band at that point. In other words, those two records were as good as they could possibly have been. With Acoustic Machine, the story is different altogether. Vandermark has become a composer, not only of compelling new jazz, but also for the Vandermark 5 as a unit. His writing and arranging for Jeb Bishop, Tim Mulvenna, Kent Kessler, and Dave Rempis is player-specific, tailoring certain sections, modes, and intervals to the strengths of particular players, thereby maximizing their contributions to the unit. Because of this development in Vandermark's already considerable skill as a composer, the Vandermark 5 are a much stronger band. Consequently, Acoustic Machine is a significant step forward for an already fine band. Each of the compositions here is dedicated to a particularly influential artist in Vandermark's own developmental iconography; the "HBF Series" -- the first short pieces ever released by the group, which are interspersed throughout the disc -- pays homage to visionary minimalist composer Morton Feldman. Each part in the series is a small work destined to extract the maximum viscera from space and silence while examining the relationships of instruments in tandem with one another timbrally. Other works are dedicated to Archie Shepp, Elvin Jones, Julius Hemphill, Stan Getz, and Lester Young.

"Fall to Grace," dedicated to Jones, is a sprightly, loose-swinging post-bop blues number. Kessler's bass seems to stride the track, allowing Rempis' tenor solo before Vandermark and Bishop clamp in for a long, loping melodic line that ends in Kessler's solo. Vamping out straight from ...