Brothers Together
(Eremite) Used CD $12.00 (Out-of-stock)
On “this reeds’n’traps free jazz duo workout” from 2002, “there are four long tracks, of which the first is superbly arresting, mixing hard bop with afro-funk in a way which makes it seem they always belonged together, while on the final track Mateen quotes from Carmen,” marvels Jazz Review, touching “all sorts of bases along the way…. A fine example of a rarified but highly rewarding area of music, this goes next to Roach/Braxton, Maslak/Moffett and indeed Coltrane/Ali, where it surely belongs.” Clipped corner
Getting Away With Murder
(Eremite - MTE007) Used CD $10.00 (Out-of-stock)
“Two musicians recorded down in New York’s subway [in February 1995],” explains Ben Watson, “And, surprise, surprise, they’re playing excellent jazz. Bruno uses brushes on his busker’s pared-down kit: a glorious, intricate waterfall of beats. Tenorist Mateen leaps in like a salmon, flashy and wise…. Mateen’s meditative, Lowe-like intimacy is just what is required [for this 45-minute improv]. When the sax lays out for nine minutes, Bruno’s fluid ebullience comes to the fore. Mateen’s concluding flourish lets in some subway ambience — train-door slams and commuter chatter — and the results are haunting…. Byron Coley’s sleevenote is, as usual, a gas.”
We Are Not at The Opera
(Eremite) Used CD $7.00
“The ebb and flow of these extended performances” from 1998, notes Jazz Times, “Allow Murray to organically connect delicately brushed cymbal figures and full-bore barrages within a single piece. His underappreciated sense of structure is very well represented by this program. Mateen more than holds his own, often prodding Murray in unexpected directions; his well developed voices on flute, alto and tenor saxophones, are as compelling as Murray’s.” Clipped corner