Kali Z. Fasteau 'Animal Grace' [Flying Note 2010]

Its been a few years since I've heard a peep from Kali Fasteau's Flying Note label, and 'Animal Grace' is a welcome return. Kali Fasteau has been active in creative music for a solid 40 years and, as an improviser, is known for an improvising strategy that cancels the weight of the individual idiom by incorporating as many as she can juggle -- and more often than not, she's pretty good at it. 'Animal Grace' picks up two live performances for issue: one subtitled Live in Harlem, a June 2007 recording at the Big Apple Jazzspace, and the other Live in the Alps, a May 2005 recording at a festival in La Prese, Switzerland.

The Harlem half of the record is a series of duets with legendary London drummer Louis Moholo -- their first meeting since the 1970s. Right away the audio fidelity sticks out like a sore thumb (too much of the room makes it in to the mix). Their playing is almost suited to what sounds like a cavern. The duo is very rough around the edges as Fasteau rifles through her pile of instruments, offering up mizmar, piano, nai flute, soprano sax, and her own heavily altered voice. Less of a drummer might get lost in this shuffle, or else just stick to some mediocre catch-all method. But Moholo can match Fasteau, and provides ample material for his collaborator to work with. The result is a large, undulating sound which is appropriately rough around the edges, and it moves along at quick pace. The two are a perfect match.

The Alps portion of the disc is a much smoother affair, both in performance and audio quality. Recorded live at Switzerland's Uncool Festival, Kali Fasteau is joined by the legendary first wave free-jazz pianist Bobby Few, and two members of Archie Shepp's band: bassist Wayne Dockery, a longtime straddler of the in/out fence, and drummer Steve McCraven. All three are American ex-pats living in Paris. Fasteau's wilder tendencies, as evinced in the recording with Louis Moholo, are reigned in only slightly, the result of being surrounded by a 'proper' group. She breaks into her stable to pull out a drumset and a sanza, in addition to the five she used with Moholo. When she, more or less, is in straight jazz mode, that eccentricity doesn't go such a long way; the strongest moments of the ensemble set come when she's playing her own well-worn compositions on the soprano saxophone. She's got an ear for a catchy tune, and its this vibrant, expressive material that Bobby Few really runs with on 'Animal Grace'; his playing here can't help but hint at his days playing fire music, with the added sheen of the years tacked on. Fasteau can't invoke the majestic heights of Few's playing, as the pianist reached with Steve Lacy, but thats no detractor to the performance in question.

The two sections of the record are completely divergent but, for me at least, present Fasteau in the best possible way. She's set up with a cast of players completely attuned to what she's doing -- it is never necessary for her to carry the weight of her collaborators. And, rather than diving in too deeply to her eclecticism which kind of irks me, I get a taste of everything. And here, apart from questionable fidelity, Fasteau and co. deliver handily on two burners. Nice.