CORRIDORS & PARALLELS

Like Da Whole Thing’s Tooth, the new disc from the David S. Ware Quartet, Corridors & Parallels (Aum Fidelity), would also make a perfect soundtrack to a David Lynch movie. This isn’t to say that the entire album is eerie and dark, although it possesses those qualities as well. Rather, it is a perfect tapestry of many thoughts, moods and visions. The quartet, made up of David S. Ware on tenor saxophone, Matthew Shipp on synthesizer, William Parker on bass and Guillermo E. Brown on drums, has made a dozen albums before this one. Having said that, I feel like a real ass for never having heard of them before. Prior to this album I had heard Matthew Shipp’s solo work on piano. But Corridors & Parallels, Shipp’s first recording using a synthesizer, is remarkably different. Shipp’s fingerprint is still left on each and every piece, but mixed with Ware’s sax performances, the end result is something new and refreshing. Ware’s blowing is sometimes very subtle and introverted but other times very hard and dramatic, like Coltrane. “Sound-a-Bye” is a perfect example of this. Ware forces his notes out over an African-influenced drum beat. The title track, “Corridors & Parallels” also succeeds in the same vain, with the upright bass being fully utilized. Think Laika meets Mingus. The album remains cohesive throughout with only one exception. “Jazz Fi-Sci” steers itself away from the feel of the album. The jazz in it is poppy and fun; amazing playing, overall. But these fun little trinkets of sound are interrupted every 30 seconds or so with electronic beeping and buzzing. Just imagine hearing a great jazz album interrupted by someone playing Zaxxon on an old ColecoVision. However, the playing keeps me from skipping the track. In all, it’s one hell of an album. So if you’re like me and have never heard of the David S. Ware Quartet until just recently, stop being an ass and pick it up.
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