Environment for Sextet in Bloomington, MN

Originally issued on percussionist
Andrea Centazzo
's
Ictus
label,
Environment for Sextet
was recorded in New York in November 1978 (it was a live broadcast for radio station
WKCR
) and features the torchbearers of what would later become known as the downtown scene --
John Zorn
,
Tom Cora
Eugene Chadbourne
-- at their wildest and woolliest, along with trumpeter
Toshinori Kondo
, who has recently returned to the spotlight (as part of
Peter Broetzmann
Die Like a Dog
project) and violinist
Polly Bradfield
, who sadly hasn't (though her
Solo Violin Improvisation
on
Chadbourne
Parachute
label remains a classic of the genre). While the two
"Environments"
tend to feature the full ensemble, the
"Solo Improvisations"
tracks (both of which are misleadingly named) alternate solo and tutti passages to great effect. The final
"Improvviso III"
is a
Zorn
/
Centazzo
duet originally featured on another
release,
USA Concerts
, but is here back where it belongs with the material it was played with originally, as
notes. The music is all credited to the percussionist, hence its clear sense of underlying structure (
's legendary game pieces owe a not inconsiderable debt of thanks to the percussionist), and a quarter of a century after it was recorded it still sounds hair-raisingly radical, especially compared to what some of the musicians involved went on to produce.
's impressive collection of birdcalls gets a thorough workout,
's guitar is at its most extreme (the
country & western
songs were still a while away), and
, who on the strength of this recording alone deserves a place at the
improv
drummers' high table alongside
Paul Lytton
Paul Lovens
, and
Han Bennink
, is astounding. Essential listening for fans of improvised music, especially
Zornophiles
. ~ Dan Warburton