“The trap of playing in a cat and mouse manner (incessant question and answer) must be avoided,” writes David Liebman in his introduction to Cosmos, a series of duets cut live in Orlando, Fla. with drummer Abbey Rader. True enough, there is a different ethos warming the conversation - communal, humble, and reminiscent in the best way of Don Cherry’s duets with Ed Blackwell. As well, this music was performed little more than a week after the World Trade Center towers fell. The closing trio of John Coltrane songs was intended to mark what would have been Trane’s 75th birthday, but with “Peace on Earth” as the closer the tribute takes a deeper meaning as well. Elsewhere, Liebman and Rader tap into the elemental force of winds and drums, with the former alternating tenor, soprano, concert flute and traditional Norwegian flute. Rader is a sensitive player of superb hearing and tuning. The first of four pieces known as “Short Call” confirms he can keep a full band’s momentum behing Liebman’s Brillo pad tenor, but he also knows when to be quiet and when to lay out completely. The deep toms in “The Drum Thing” and the hand percussion in “Norwegian Fisherman” celebrate a musician of great tuning too.
- Randal McIlroy
Dave Liebman acknowledges in the liner notes the profound influence of the drum and tenor sax duo sections played by John Coltrane and Elvin Jones and the “Interstellar Space” sessions with Trane and Rashied Ali as convincing proof that backing chords and a bass line aren’t necessarily mandatory as long as you know what you’re doing.
Liebman certainly knows what he’s doing. On the more Blues and post-Bop oriented sections of “Cosmos,” it’s easy to hear the missing backing elements in one’s own head, which would not be so evident if it were a sax player who could only function in a “free” environment and didn’t have an otherwise solid background. His rhythm partner, Abbey Rader, shadows but never crowds and, because he has a gentle but firm touch, is the equivalent of a film projector that supplies the scenery and setting for Liebman’s characters and dialogue. The Coltrane legacy is at times omnipresent, especially when the tenor sax and drums are locked into a productive groove, but to his credit Liebman never succumbs to slavish sheets of sound. And Rader, although he does reach into an Elvin bag here and there, reminds me more of Roy Haynes (who also played and recorded with Coltrane) and the late Dannie Richmond.
The live recording was made less than two weeks following 9/11, 2001 and so it’s not surprising the mood is somewhat somber yet intense. But there are stretches of frivolity, such as the six minute mark in “Off A Bird” when, after laying down a fairly down-to-earth blues line, Liebman’s soprano sax leaps into the uppermost tonal region and then skids directly into a free-for-all; the visual impression I got was of a 1960s-era computer bank gaining consciousness a la Pinnochio. And “Norwegian Fisherman” features a high-pitched flute darting playfully over soft syncopation that suggests the Virgin Islands more than it does Scandinavia. The meatiest sections, however, are those navigated by tenor sax, such as the three Coltrane songs and “Short Calls 5” with its noonward racing, melodic spaghetti. The sound quality is excellent, although the drums and percussion could have been mixed louder. That aside, this is a penetrating and satisfying date full of the passion and creative flow that can result when two like-minded musicians are hitting their stride.
- Charles Winokoor