Mark Whitecage - Split Personality (1998)

There's not a more imaginative, spontaneous, and passionate jazz improviser alive than reedman Mark Whitecage. He operates on that very high level of accomplishment that only the most gifted and dedicated jazz musicians reach. The '90s were good to Whitecage; he recorded a number of fine albums, and his reputation as one of free jazz's most compelling improvisers grew exponentially. If you've heard any of Whitecage's late-'90s albums for the CIMP label, you have a good idea about the quality of his work. But the CIMP records suffer from that label's self-defeating insistence on aural purity; ironically, the almost total lack of reverberation stemming from their approach results in a patent artificiality. It's distracting, at the very least, both to the listener and the musicians who play on the records (with no reverb, it's difficult for a saxophonist to hear what he or she's playing). On this album, Whitecage benefits from more conventional studio recording techniques, complete with reverb and perhaps even compression (gasp!). The sound on this album is lovely; even though the record was made in a studio in Paramus, NJ, engineer Jon Rosenberg seems to place the music in a most congenial concert hall setting. The excellent sound makes the group's music as transparent as it can be. Whitecage's imagination knows no bounds. He draws a world of tonal color from his various instruments. Every note swings, even when the going gets abstract. He listens, responds, and instigates. Bassist Dominic Duval gives one his best performances on record. With Whitecage, Duval picks and chooses a bit more than is common for him, to great effect. Drummer Jay Rosen is a wonderful player, as well. His taste is consummate, his sense of color nearly perfect. Rosen's touch on the kit (especially the cymbals) is as fine as a diamond cutter's. Although this record was recorded at a relatively early stage in the relationship between the three men, you could not tell from the music's quality; they play together as one. One gets the feeling that a great deal of preparation was put into the making of this record. If you're new to Whitecage (and Duval and Rosen, for that matter), this is a great place to start.

Review by Chris Kelsey