(Free Jazz, Free Improvisation) [CD] Steelwool Trio (Kent Kessler, Curt Newton, Ken Vandermark) - International Front - 1999, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 28. October 2016, 16:50
Steelwool Trio / International Front
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Delete leading and trailing silent blocks   : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations       : Yes
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All tracks accurately ripped
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==== Log checksum B752BB6CC109287DB3D4035230C3240C8BFE033FF8120B5E8FBEC120248AC2AC ====

REM GENRE Jazz
REM DATE 1995
REM DISCID 76115109
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v1.0b3"
CATALOG 7160000000000
PERFORMER "Steelwool Trio"
TITLE "International Front"
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If you think about it, steel wool is some weird stuff: threads of steel so fine they;re actually soft, spun into ugly bunches to form a highly effective abrasive. Both name and object are oxymorons. As far as I know, however, the steel wool you find in the supermarket aisle with the sponges, mops, floor polish, and cleaners has limited uses. That kind of steel wool scrapes shit off stuff it shouldn’t be on, everything from rust to burnt food. But no one wears socks or sweaters woven from steel wool, you can’t find blankets made from it, and I seriously doubt if there are any metallic Turkish carpets hanging in Istanbul shop windows glistening in the sunlight. It’s just one of those strange modern inventions. Maybe someone was whittling away at a slab of steel, balled up the shavings, and serendipitously realized that cleaning would never be the same again. But it’s the tactile sensation of steel wool that’s most intriguing. It can be squeezed! Steel, one of the most durable and hard substances that you encounter every day, yields to the mere pressure exerted by a hand. When I first heard what Ken Vandermark was calling his new trio with bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Curt Newton, I immediately thought of that old box of S.O.S. pads that used to sit under the sink when I was growing up. Steelwool (with cap, natch). Sounds good, I thought. To those at all familiar with Vandermark through a seemingly infinite array of projects — Vandermark Quartet, Caffeine, the Standards improvisation project, NRG Ensemble, and other diverse groupings, past, present, and future — Kessler’s name won’t be a new one. He plays with Ken in the Quartet and NRG. He’s one of Chicago’s most flexible all-around bassists, possessed with a warm, full, brawny sound, and equally adept playing standards and free improv. Drummer Curt Newton stretches back to Vandermark’s Boston days. You may have heard his chamberish contributions in Debris or his simpatico off-kilter swinging in the Joe Morris Trio. He’s played inspiring duets with Vandermark during yearly Christmas sojourns back to Chicago for the last few years, performing thematic tributes to Eric Dolphy, Jimmy Lyons, Sun Ra, and George Clinton. With the exception of recent collaborator Hamid Drake, Newton is the most "jazz-like" percussionist Vandermark’s played with since coming to Chicago.
Vandermark’s endless variety in playing situations reflects his unquenchable thirst for musical growth and experience. The approach and sound of Steelwool is no exception. Apart from representing his first regular working reed-bass-drums trio — there’s surely a line, albeit a crooked one, from Sonny Rollins to Steelwool — Newton’s penchant for restrained playing forces a recurring sense of space previously missing in much of Vandermark’s work. Whether Kessler’s authoritative playing fills in gaps or simply lets silence creep in, Vandermark offers some of the most thoughtful and emotional playing of his short but well-documented career.
The CD is loaded with extended, often contemplative, solo passages — check out Newton’s near-silent cymbal dances or Kessler’s evocatively sad thick slabs of arco — providing a stark contrast to the hyper-frenetic density of the rock-leaning Vandermark Quartet or the whirling improv dervish of Caffeine. Newton’s certainly able to contribute delirious clatter if the situation warrants it, but more often than not his sensitive running commentary, retorts, prods, and fleshes out ’scapes, reinforcing moods or creating a gorgeous tension with the presiding one. And, of course, there are unadulterated romps of joyous cacophony, where the groups sonic intensity unleashes surprising waves of gentle discovery.
One of the most striking elements about Steelwool is Vandermark’s clarinet playing. It’s long been a part of his reed arsenal, but he’s never employed with as much boldness and ingenuity. Exploiting the instrument’s association with swing, he uses it to dance happily over complex rhythms or dip dizzily with klezmerish virtuosity, but he often gets caught up in the good-time jag and transforms a toetapping run into an explosive charge into the clarinet’s squealing upper register. Sometimes he moves to the tenor at this point to let his full fury have voice, but at other times he crams his impatient muse into the licorice stick, filling it for all its worth.
The combination of the group’s exquisite spareness and Newton’s unsinkable swing drive results in Vandermark sounding almost boppish at times. His gorgeous ballad style on tenor remains his greatest untapped asset, and some of that astounding ability shows up in Steelwool. This special trio allows its members to take stock in things amidst the rumbling din. They done play any standards, but Vandermark’s terrific writing suggests a deep connection with the music’s history that most of his other projects haven’t evoked so clearly. Without watering anything down, Steelwool is Ken Vandermark for listeners who’ve shrunk at his previous bouts of musical extroversion.
In a world sadly obsessed with seeing and hearing everything in terms of strict polarity, Steelwool runs the gamut. Like the scrappy cleaning object for which it is named, Steelwool encompasses both ends of the spectrum, along with all the stops in between. They’ll cleanse your head, but good.

Bass – Kent Kessler
Percussion – Curt Newton
Reeds – Ken Vandermark