Circa:

Michael Cain, Ralph Alessi, Peter Epstein - Circa (1997) {ECM 1622}
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© 1997 ECM Records | ECM 1622
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop / Piano / Trumpet / Saxophone

Pianist Michael Cain teams up with trumpeter Ralph Alessi and soprano saxophonist Peter Epstein for some unusual trio performances on this ECM CD. The 11 group originals (by Cain and/or Alessi) alternate complex written-out sections with fairly free group improvising. Epstein's soprano and Alessi's trumpet blend together almost as if they were one person playing two horns simultaneously, while Cain's rumbling keeps the music from ever getting too tonal or comfortable. Ranging from what sounds like chamber music (it is often difficult to determine when the musicians are improvising) to stretched-out long tones and heated sections, this episodic and continually intriguing music is never predictable and rewards repeated listenings.

This performance can be labeled Portuguese only loosely, since many of the pieces are sung in Spanish, or taken from Spanish manuscripts, or more properly Galician than Lusitanian. But hey! Who cares? Really artful recordings of any Iberian music of the 'Golden Age' are not sprouting from the cork trees even today. Male alto Gerard Lesne has seldom recorded pre-Baroque chansons, and it's a thrill to hear what he can do with them. Track 9, for instance, the Latin cantiga "Clamabat autem mulier" by Mudarra, takes Lesne from his usual alto register down seamlessly into his tenor chest voice. Wow! Not every counter-tenor can do that and still sound musical!

Influential alt country band whose sound evolved into a crisp mix of swing, country, rock and beatnik lyricism. Giant Sand was the primary outlet for the stylistic curveballs and sun-damaged songcraft of Howe Gelb, a Pennsylvania-born singer/guitarist who formed the four-piece Giant Sandworms after relocating to Tuscon, Arizona in the mid-'70s. After releasing the EP Will Wallow and Roam After the Ruin in 1980, Gelb fired everyone but bassist Scott Gerber (although founding guitarist Rainer Ptacek returned to the fold many times in the future) and started over as simply Giant Sand, essentially a one-man band backed by a revolving cast of players.