The Week In Reviews - Machine Mass

MACHINE MASS feat. DAVE LIEBMAN pairs the legendary saxophonist (Miles Davis, Elvin Jones...) with longtime collaborator drummer Tony Bianco (Elton Dean, Paul Dunmall, Evan Parker, douBt) and guitarist Michel Delville (The Wrong Object, douBt, Comicoperando). Graced by Dave Liebman’s extraordinary phrasing and improvising skills, “INTI” combines free improvisation with tight rhythmic structures, post-Bitches Brew time signatures with ambient episodes, spreading across different musical and spiritual realities, both playfully and intensely. The band ventures into the fiery electro-jazz territories explored by Bianco and Delville’s recent Machine Mass Trio, which also showcased both musicians’ capacity to listen closely and improvise over unpredictable chord, rhythm and time changes while handling live electronics and computer loops.

Recorded live in the studio with no overdubs (in just one afternoon, no less!), this monumental session bears witness to three seasoned musicians in top form – producing music that is fresh, challenging, profound and moving. Rules are acknowledged and rules are discarded, and the resulting sonic bouillabaisse,Inti, signals some truly exciting new directions for progressive jazz.