"Transmissions" - Adam Caine Quartet (2020)

 

    NYC stalwart of the guitar, jazz, teaching and composing scene, Adam Caine became a good friend of mine soon after I moved to New York a few years ago. He sent me this album soon after that and it was one of the most special documents I received while living here. The "soft blanket" aesthetic of the band and material reminded me of another favorite album of mine of the last 15 years: Matt Mayhall's 2016 release "Tropes". You can expect a review of that from me very soon.

    I've always found this amazing hidden stream of jazz-derived instrumental music whenever I looked deep enough in any of the music scenes I've frequented. It's markedly divergent from the two big streams of thought in improvisational music recently. In one corner, there's "laboratory" jazz where streams of pointy angularity heightened in dissonant harmony that resembles mid-20th century chamber more than bebop. In the other corner, "farm" jazz which is the posturing of milder folks in the scene to seem just as serious as their ancestral music but with Americana-dipped melodies driven by country guitar and brushed backbeats. "Transmissions" falls into this invisible category between the walls, adopting both facets of chamber music (looping cells with aggressive unisons) and the tumbleweed thing. I hear it as coming from Jimmy Giuffre's work and running thru late period Beach Boys and later Mark Orton's Tin Hat Trio.  

    The nine tracks here each evoke different cinematic scenes. Each has a spartan, often very memorable line and is often driven in sparkly unisons from the two guitars. Sometimes the rhythm section of Adam Lane and Billy Mintz whispers behind Caine and Lanzetti. Other times it simmers and other times it swings its ass off. One of the things I love about the sound here cellular and repetitive it is, even with solos. I felt like I had been pulled thru nine different tunnels between realms! I couldn't think of another similar combo with two guitars other than maybe some of Marc Johnson's ensembles.  

    Opening track "Night Driver" comes slinking in with the faintest heartbeat-like pulse coming the rhythm section. The guitars are given this pentatonic pattern that is deceptively novel and harmonically intriguing.Very plaintive and dim in a beautiful way. "Cloud Over" picks things up a bit with a wandering swing and a twangy and delicate solo from Lanzetti.

    "Alien Flower" sounds like it was pulled from the barren, dusty streets where a saloon stand-off has taken place. One of my favorites for sure. "The Girls" features a loung-y, sedated groove with these bizarre chordal holds between brushes and the first guitar answering a supremely funky, extended riff between bass and the second guitar. These vibes and more continue the remainder of the set ending finally with the somehow simultaneously orgiastic and calm celebration that is "The Spiral". It's all brilliant writing truly and some of my favorite music I've run into since moving to NY.