(Post-Bop / Avant-Garde / Modern Creative) Louie Belogenis / Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz / Kenny Wollesen - Unbroken - 2005, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tenor saxophonist Louie Belogenis traces his roots to Coltrane and Ayler explicitly, having recorded as a duo with drummer Rashied Ali and in Prima Materia, a band led by Ali that has recorded album-long interpretations of Meditations and Bells. His agenda is the same (transcendence) and his vocabulary is similar (ecstatic), but Belogenis builds to his explosions, rather than exploding right out of the box. In this respect, he resembles Pharoah Sanders most. Backed by bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz and drummer Kenny Wollesen, the rhythm section frequently establishes modal grooves and repeated bass vamps that induce a mild hypnosis before Belogenis's tenor smears away the pleasantry. Blumenkranz and Wollesen shake bells and tick and chime like a grandfather clock while Belogenis's tone is alternately hoarse and whispery, high-pitched and urgent and smooth and mystical, with a touch of vibrato. Belogenis has been a sideman for too long: his outstanding trio proves they can play in a tradition established by rarified company. ~ Jeff Stockton, AAJ

The stark visual of an ink-brushed circle serves as emblematic iconography for the music of Louie Belogenis. His dry, sand-scored tenor tracks a direct lineage dating back to free jazz forefathers like Coltrane and Ayler, illustrating the cyclic replenishing nature of the tradition. Unbroken works concurrently as band name and album title, reflecting Belogenis’ Buddhist beliefs and acting as correlate to the music’s continued vitality. Bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz and drummer Kenny Wollesen read from the same liturgy as the leader, each man attuned to Belogenis’ designs and an equal partner in the action.
All but one of the disc’s nine tracks carries dedications, the only one without telling-titled “Hymn for the Forgotten”. The practice suggests a surface parallel to one of Ken Vandermark’s signature tactics, but Belogenis’ pieces echo their honorees in immediately recognizable musical terms. “Fat Tongue”, penned with Sonny Rollins in mind, percolates on a robust Calypso-reminiscent groove anchored on the back of Blumenkranz’s bass. “Bells Canto” finds Belogenis dipping his horn in a florid Aylerian tincture amidst a textured sea of the titular percussive devices. “Oasis of Dreams” nods darkly to Zorn and sounds as if it could easily be an understudy for an errant Masada tune. Blumenkranz’s adroitly plucked solo, brimming with expressive strums and stops, propels the piece to an even higher level of artistry.
Other tracks work off like-minded undulating vamps and trance-like Indian and North African overtones. “Transmission”, for Buddhist teacher H.R. Bokar Rinpoche, unfurls on rolling mallets and a bobbing bass ostinato, Belogenis’ richly voiced tenor tracing lines that range from somber to keening in temperament. Blumenkranz takes full advantage of his amplification, shaping turgid patterns that buttress Belogenis’ flights and lend plenty of bottom weight. Wollesen’s sticks balance propulsion with plenty of color.
Throughout the program, Belogenis references one of Coltrane’s lesser commonly plundered traits, that of an overarching seriousness that sometimes borders on an unrelenting absence of mirth. The closing “Bel Canto”, for Maria Callas, places him in another textured forest of percussion, his prayer-like lines plumbing the lower register with earnest and exquisite austerity. In the context of the music, it’s the ideal inclination, but in listening, I still couldn’t help hungering for a thread or two of jocularity to leaven the sobriety of the surroundings. ~ Derek Taylor, One Final Note

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 from 4. May 2009
EAC extraction logfile from 29. January 2010, 23:55
Louie Belogenis / Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz / Kenny Wollesen / Unbroken
Used drive  : hp      DVD-RAM GH40L   Adapter: 0  ID: 1
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Null samples used in CRC calculations       : Yes
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Range status and errors
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     Copy CRC 3F30D3DB
     Copy OK
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AccurateRip summary
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All tracks accurately ripped
End of status report