Lesli Dalaba : "Core samples"

(Ear-Rational, 1991)

One of the most distinctive trumpet players in improvised music, Lesli Dalaba combines a mastery of unorthodox playing techniques with a delicate, moving lyricism. Lesli began performing in California in the 1970’s with Wayne Horvitz. In 1978 she moved to New York, where she formed her own quartet and performed for 10 years as both a soloist and ensemble player, traveling throughout the U.S. and Europe. Lesli was a member of Wayne Horvitz’ and Robin Holcomb’s New York Composers Orchestra, Elliott Sharp’s Carbon, and the Balkan brass band Zlatne Ustne, which was twice invited to perform in Yugoslavia. Other musicians Lesli has worked with include Derek Bailey, Eugene Chadbourne, Fred Frith, George Lewis, and LaMonte Young. Lesli’s final New York project was Core Sample, a CD of her own compositions.
Lesli has been living in Seattle since 1989. She has been a steady member of Jeff Greinke’s LAND since its inception in 1994. LAND’s tour of China in 1996 inspired the formation of Radio Chongching, her other current project is a looping, electronic trio with Greg Gilmore and Fred Chalenor. Lesli is also a member of Fred Frith’s quintet, Tense Serenity, which toured Europe in ’98 and ’99. In addition to her musical activities, Lesli works as an acupunturist and practitioner of Chinese Medicine.

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The Bang : "Omonimo"

(Nueva, 1991)

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Andy Laster : "Twirler"

(Sound Aspects, 1990)

Alto/baritone saxophonist and composer Andy Laster was born in 1961, grew up on Long Island, and studied jazz at Seattle's Cornish Institute before moving to New York City in 1985. His first recording, "Hippo Stomp," appeared on the Sound Aspects label in 1989. This album was followed by two more Sound Aspects releases, Twirler (1990) and the first eponymously named CD by Hydra (1994), one of Laster's key ongoing projects. During the 1990s Laster emerged as a unique and significant voice on the so-called "New York downtown music scene" that has also served as a launching pad for musicians like Dave Douglas, Tim Berne and John Zorn. In 1995 the Songlines label released Polyogue, the second Hydra recording; next came another Songlines CD by Laster's Interpretations of Lessness Band in 1997. Soft Shell followed three years later. While leading these two groups Laster also appeared in collaborative ensembles Orange Then Blue and New and Used, as well as Erik Friedlander's Topaz; the Julius Hemphill Sextet; the Pink Noise Saxophone Quartet; Bobby Previte's Weather Clear, Track Fast; and Ballin' the Jack. He has also performed with Mark Helias, Hank Roberts' Birds of Prey and Lyle Lovett. Laster has developed a unique compositional style that often draws from techniques employed in modern classical chamber music, with highly scored passages that serve as a backdrop for or intertwine with soloists. While often complex, the music is also spacious, rhythmically open and expressive, with considerable appeal to fans of well-executed contemporary jazz and creative improvisation.

Dave Lynch (Allmusic)

nb : there is a hidden (or bonus) track not mentioned on the cd : track 8 = "Lyleland" !

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Andy Laster : "Hydra"

(Sound Aspects, 1994)

As a saxophonist, Andy Laster has a unique approach, spinning webs of primarily alto saxophonistic sound from the Eric Dolphy/Ornette Coleman/Gary Bartz school — just the right balance of enough tart sweetness and rambling & stark melodicism to make his personalized music quite palatable. Hydra finds him in the company of ever-fresh trumpeter/cornetist Herb Robertson, always in the blue gutbucket bassist Ed Schuller, and razor sharp drummer Tom Rainey. They collectively play these 14 Laster-penned compositions to the hilt from a thematic, spiritual, and utterly original standpoint. Laster, who also plays a little flute or baritone sax, uses a multitude of devices to his best advantage while writing concentrated, complex music that is more valued and heavy with repeated listenings. "Darshon" is perhaps the most highly developed chart, going from free to supercharged bop with hot accents, lower triple pianissimo harmonics from the leader, and intense counterpoint while reviewing and repeating several of these motifs. Mixing Dixieland-type interplay, funky R&B rhythms, and Ornette style approximate harmolodicism in 6/8 on "Hagia Sophia," or conjuring a bluesy, reggae-ish inquisition with melodic statements and drum inserts during "The Four Questions," the band proves they can do it all in short strokes. Robertson also has considerable mettle to showcase throughout the proceedings. His hymnal trumpet on "Cluniac" leads to both modernistic horns joyously bopping, his sputtering comedic repartee for "The Rocket Club" turns to tango incursions, and a mushy, muted cornet on "Parachute" follows mixed staccato and legato lines. There's a scattered, leapfrogging bounce melody with Robertson's creative wailing on "Radbaz"; Rainey's brushed intro to the lugubrious waltz "Eelpout" with soulful, staggered counterpoint and "unison"; and the free (a la Ornette) ballad "Their Last End." Sprinkled in between are alto sax-drum duets "Canto I-IV," varying from a free discourse to more edgy, beat-oriented musings; an overt swinger; a calm-to-heated discussion; and free groove in a mezzo piano dynamic. Hydra not only hits on all four cylinders, but in a high artistic and musical vein that the modern jazz world at large should pay close attention to. Recommended.

Michael G. Nastos (All Music)

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