Rosco Blur - Stable Chaos (1997)

Rosco Blur's Stable Chaos is one of the jazziest (in the "straight jazz" sense) albums released by the label Red Toucan. It was also the first addition to its Exuberance series since the 1993 Charles Papasoff CD. Tenor and soprano saxophonist Blur doubles on vocals on a few tracks, waltzing through verses like a beat poet on "Booze Up and Riot" and "The Jazz Mind." He is accompanied by Paul Plimley on piano, Danny Parker on double bass, and Dylan van der Schyff on drums. Violinist Payman Vessal, keyboardist Glenna Powrie, and samplist Don Garbutt join in for the opener "New World Order," a spirit-less blend of jazz-rock, funk, and pop. Stable Chaos is an album of post-bop jazz with funk aspirations. Despite the talents of van der Schyff and Plimley, who both get much appreciated solo spots in "Daddy Booze," the chemical reaction fails. The vocal pieces sound pretentious. There are two redeeming moments though, the freeform title track and the inspired "Nowhere Fast," where Blur finally gives some indication of the reason why the pianist and drummer got involved in this project. A disconcerting release for followers of the Red Toucan label, Stable Chaos is half-cooked, whatever your standpoint.