Elliott Sharp Aggregat - Dialectrical (2016)

Here’s the third Aggregat opus in which Elliott Sharp continues to go beyond the limits of the two previous releases of this project and again playing only saxophones and clarinets. The first Aggregat was a trio with Brad Jones and Ches Smith with Sharp’s unique guitar voice adding to his horn work. After that, Aggregat became a quintet with the addition of Nate Wooley and Terry Greene, Sharp putting his “six-strings” aside. Now, for “Dialectrical”, only Jones and Greene remain, with Taylor Ho Bynum trumpeting and the great Barry Altschul guesting at the drumset. The legendary member of the band Circle, with Anthony Braxton, Sam Rivers, Chick Corea and Dave Holland, and also a former Paul Bley’s partner, now 76 years old, gives a solid anchor to Sharp´s idiosyncratic visions of the jazz tradition. Yes, the free bop you’ll find in “Dialectrical” is more edgy than ever, mixing compositions, simple structural instructions and improvisations in good measure. A tribute to Bley is delivered on this CD, but also to a few of the giants who recently passed away, namely Ornette Coleman, David Bowie and Pierre Boulez. This means the music you’ll hear has other musics folded inside and out – the norm with someone like Elliott Sharp, one of the most visionary and flexible musicians of our time.