Lately I've been getting really into a lot of free jazz, particularly Charles Gayle whose music I find simply riveting and inspiring. The spontaneity and uncertainty of jazz paradoxically makes me calm, clear, and focused. I never know where Gayle is headed but I never seem to mind, it always ends pleasantly. "Trio Streets" is Gayle at his most agile, demonstrating both the elasticity of his tones and the vast landscape of his emotions. Drummer Michael "TA" Thompson simply compliments everything Gayle plays and Larry Roland is one of the smoothest bassists ever and his pulse never rises enough to sound hurried or confused.
I find the similarities between punk and jazz be obvious and apparent. Punk, at least my interpretation of that term, has always theoretically maintained the significance of eliminating sonic, political, and social limitations, something that free jazz represents arguably better than any genre of music. Without restraints or barriers, norms or morays, the instruments are free to roam, free to explore new uncharted terrain. This is something we all long for, something that free jazz offers the world.
- Joe