Jakal-Peroration; Amalgam Records, 2023

 

Fans of extended Free Improvisation, take note! Jakal, a trio consisting of woodwinds player Keefe Jackson, drummer Julian Kirshner, and cellist/guitarist/electronics man Fred Lonberg-Holm has released Peroration, and it's right in your wheel house! Consisting of two tracks, the longer Peroration and the shorter The Grand Finale, this set features a group that is mining the rich possibilities inherent within the act of musical improvisation, possibilities which each member of the trio are up to and then some. The listener is dropped immediately into the fray; there is not subtle build up or countdown as Peroration begins. One simply finds oneself surrounded by the thickets of improvised music emerging from the axes and minds of the group's players. Disaster Amnesiac has found much enjoyment from Lonberg-Holm's earthy string sounds, Blues-ey at times, Jackson's high end wind song action, and Kirshner's spacious yet simultaneously dense trap set figurations. Jakal always sound as if they're in conversational mode, even at the moments characterized by a more "let 'er rip" type of dynamic. These dudes play together exceedingly well. Top flight sounds from a great group on Peroration. I'll bet that their live shows are corkers!