During the weekend before this recording I was thinking about what it was that made me want to record this group. Certainly, on the face of it, a sax, bass and drum trio suggests nothing out of the ordinary, so obviously it's the people. Let's hope so, 'cause this art is nothing if not about individuals and their expressive talents.
First up, there was Kevin Norton (Brooklyn, NY, 1956). This is Kevin's 7th CIMP outing, all impressive (as are his Barking Hoop recordings) but I was really knocked out by the growth of his work the last time out with Anthony Braxton (CIMPs 225 and 236). Then there was Andy Eulau (Sleepy Hollow, NY, 1958), who was also along on the Braxton CIMPs. However, for those sessions Anthony kept him in a very traditional role. But on the very brief deviations, when he did expand a bit, he suggested another strong dynamic. Finally there is Bob Celusak (cel-loose-sack) (Newark, NJ, 1953) about whom I knew nothing except for a single demo tape Kevin gave me on which his playing really grabbed my attention. So that was the reasoning and the prelude for this MLK birthday bash.
The trio members (who came to know each other in January 2000) arrived around 1 p.m. which was fortunate as by 2 p.m. we were in the midst of a small ice storm. Andy looked tired and, in fact, went off to take a nap. By 3:30 p.m. Kevin asked if he and Bob could start with some duo work and, 15 minutes later after one of our fastest sound checks, they were off and inventing, a duo filling The Spirit Room with the sounds of welcome (Thoughts of the Iron Monkey). It really made me wonder why this is Mr. Celusak's first release. I'm drawn to how he frames his ideas, the authority with which he presents them and the integration within the group, then I consider the avalanche of recordings (forgettable and otherwise) since 1953 and this is his first release? In response to my "whys," the briefest of biographical facts given me are that he took up the sax at 17, taught and played, blew off the '80s until around 1989 when he had what he calls a "spiritual awakening" that told him this was what he had to do, and to take life seriously.
We broke for supper and an energetic, if inconclusive, conversation about the arts, the artists, and the commodity-driven markets affecting them. By 7:30 p.m. we were back filling The Spirit Room once more with sounds of joy and surprise. Listen to the original and harmonic approach to Nardis – no aping of the liturgy here. The issued take of "Nardis" is the second. I enjoyed the first but this is a gem and a brilliant example of both individual strength of statement and group strength. The ability to invent and redirect extemporaneously outside while within a structure is given good evidence on Walking the Dogma which utilizes a variety of tempos and tonal dynamics to navigate the music's passage over its ten minute journey.
By the time we finished on the first day we basically had concert standard. Even so, by 11 a.m. the next morning they were back at it, guaranteeing me the difficult job of eliminating prime material in order to accommodate the finite length of a compact disc. Enjoy the concert; it was a joy to produce.
Robert D. Rusch - 1/16/01
