Dreamtime Cathanger '86 CD

Dreamtime was formed in 1982 as a jazz trio featuring Nick Evans, Gary Curson and Jim LeBaigue. However in the same year it augmented to a quintet with the addition of Jim Dvorak and Roberto Bellatalla. It was under this quintet format that they released their first album, "Bunny Up" in 1983. A couple of years later this sextet was born, when the band augmented yet again with the addition of Keith Tippett on piano. "Cathanger '86" is chronologically speaking Dreamtime's second album although it is the third to be released, coming after "Zen Fish" in 1998. The accompanying 8 page booklet features photographs from the band's own archive and liner notes by trombonist, Nick Evans.

Dreamtime: Gary Curzon (saxophone); Jim Dvorak (trumpet); Nick Evans (trombone); Keith Tippett (piano); Roberto Bellatalla (double bass); Jim Lebaigue (drums).
Recorded at Cathanger Studios in June of 1986, but released a belated 18 years later, this album features the sextet version of Dreamtime. A year prior to this recording, pianist Keith Tippett was joining the lineup of Roberto Bellatalla (double bass), Gary Curson (saxes), Jim Dvorak (trumpet), Jim Lebaigue (drums), and trombonist/leader Nick Evans. Two of the nine tracks (all originals) were recorded without Tippett: "Tip of the Iceberg" is a fast-paced head-driven tune signed Evans, while "Blessing in the Eyes" features a free-form percussion intro (with probably all members of the original quintet involved in striking, shaking, and grunting) that gradually evolves into a Mario Schiano-like jazz piece. The numbers with Tippett tend to be slightly less festive, since his playing always carries a certain weight with it. Nevertheless, the opening "Loopin'" is a jolly number, with an angular, stuttering head and a mad swing that eventually turns into free-form rhythm when Bellatalla starts sawing his bass in half as the horn section disintegrates. Of the quieter pieces, "Bushman's Dance" is the most satisfying, Tippett shining at bringing out the melody together with Curson, before the other players gradually leave the free-form texture they're producing to join in unison for a near-processional hymn. "Chinese Hymn," where Tippett plays a prepared piano like it were a guzheng, falls rather flat, but represents the only subpar moment on the album. The set concludes with a rendition of Radu Malfatti's "Freedom - Dalbe 345," a piece combining free improvisation with melodic lines and an exuberant second-half theme -- ironically, it is that piece, the only one written by someone outside the band, that best summarizes the nature of Dreamtime's music: a blend of European improvisation, Italian avant-garde jazz, and the free jazz inherited from Chris McGregor's projects. ~ François Couture

The Wire (pp.55-6) - "[T]his thoughtful and challenging music deserves to be widely heard."