Snakeheads & Ladybugs

'Snakeheads & Ladybugs' is a brilliant album of improvised duets by two master musicians - drummer Jack Mouse and multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson; their first album for Tall Grass Records. At first listen, this might seem like an unexpected departure for these two gentlemen, but it is actually an idea that has been brewing between them since they first began playing together in the 1980s. Their fans and the entire jazz audience will undoubtedly feel that it was worth the wait. The musical concept of the horn and drums duo in the contemporary jazz environment can best be traced back to the euphoric duets between the magnificent John Coltrane and his alter ego Elvin Jones; and later cemented in jazz history with his landmark album with Rashied Ali, 'Interstellar Space.' Although the context has been in place since the earliest days of jazz, it's modern incarnation has been most prevalently associated with the avant-garde or free jazz movements. While avant-garde is a questionable term for a style that has been in full bloom for more than half a century, the concept of free playing demands some clarification. Duke Ellington stated 'Jazz is Freedom; the freedom to play something that's never been played.quot; And Sam Rivers, one of the monumental giants who is often heavily associated with free jazz echoed the sentiments of many of the music's greatest creators when he often said quot;The only way to be truly free is to have complete mastery of your instrument so you are free to play anything you want to play.quot; That brings us directly to the heart of the matter with Jack and Scott, and perfectly captures the essence of this extraordinary recording. This is not simply a quot;play the head, improvise, take the head outquot; recording. In fact, there are no written compositions, but rather a virtually non-stop flow of improvisational communication through twelve distinct phases of mutual exploration - all spontaneously conceived by the two musicians, calling upon their clear and focused knowledge of each other, combined with their consummate mastery and fluency in musical expression. Captivating, powerful, compelling, visceral and inspired are all adjectives that are fully on point to describe this music. And while the format and instrumentation might initially seem limiting, the scope and depth of their imaginations, combined with their radiant musicality produce a limitless and unbound, even cinematic landscape that would not be contained even if there were twice as many pieces on the album. Jack's drums, tuned for a full palette of musical tones - much in the way Max Roach, Joe Chambers and Shelly Manne prepared their instruments - enables him to approach the drums like a pianist or vibraphonist. On 'Bolero Incognito,' his floor tom produces a bass counterpoint to his traps that perfectly envelops Scott's feinting and jabbing tenor. Sometimes Jack produces a hand drum patter, as on the opening of 'Orcan,' dramatically setting up a stirring environment for Scott's audacious use of dynamics that simply explodes from the speakers and grabs the listener by the hair as it builds to it's vigorous climax. In the manner of the aforementioned Trane duos, Jack is not an accompanist, but an equal partner in the creative canvas, in the same manner as a violin/flute duo would be, or in the amazing collaborations between Art Tatum and Lionel Hampton. On 'Backward Glance,' the remarkable Benny Goodman/Gene Krupa duets on the iconic 'Sing, Sing, Sing' were a point of