Spring Heel Jack's followup to last year's near-masterpiece "Live" finds the duo of John Coxon and Ashley Wales again far from home in strange company for a brand-new CD of quirky experimentation, "The Sweetness of the Water."
The two Brits started out as a drum 'n' bass team that recorded interesting club music filled with synthesized breakbeats and dub-fueled rhythms. Four years ago, they hooked up with the avant-garde jazz label Thirsty Ear and moved to even more unconventional music. Since then, their semistructured improvisational work has been consistently brilliant.
Thirsty Ear producer Matthew Shipp introduced them to a series of like-minded free improvisers, among them Evan Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, Mark Sanders and John Edwards, all known for their uncompromisingly free excursions. In contrast to "Live," where the band focused on group jamming (occasionally with some kind of a beat), here they pair off for duos and trios on over half the cuts. Though either Coxon or Wales plays on each tune, the music often drops into such minimalism it is hard to tell exactly who is playing (or not playing). Their intriguing juxtapositions of wide-open spaces, whispered tones and shifts of instrumentation once again produce endlessly fascinating music.
