Tom Weeks-Ero Guro; self-released/Produced by Harry Gibbons, 2015

It's an entertainment truism that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but one of the dynamics of Jazz and Improvised Music that Disaster Amnesiac loves is the way in which artists within these fields disregard that kind of safety net and let their new developments show. I recall a trip from San Francisco to Oakland's Yoshi's in the mid-1990's in order to see Anthony Braxton play. Expecting the other world logic of his classic Quartet, instead I was treated to a few hours of Braxton playing Standards on the piano with a very straight rhythm section. An instructive moment in expectations, surely. Recently, this type of dynamic played out for Disaster Amnesiac again: after enjoying a set of Electro-Acoustic improvisation from Tom Weeks, John McGowan, and Sam Genovese, in which they played a set of mostly delicate and very quiet pieces (for the first time, Disaster Amnesiac had the opportunity to think "man, his saxophone sounds a lot like a bowed cymbal right now"), I duly purchased a copy of Weeks' Ero Guro, expecting its sounds to be comparable to the music I'd just heard from him.
I was mistaken. The sound of Ero Guro comes from a much different vantage point to be sure, that being a tight and muscular quartet music, featuring electric bass and two drum sets alongside the (mostly) reed work of Weeks. Tom shows great command of his alto saxophone, blowing hard and hot throughout with Blues-ey runs that evoke the disc's dedicatee, Ornette Coleman. Disaster Amnesiac has particularly enjoyed his post-Bop style on closer Yamette Kudasai and his speedy, high pitched runs on Kimochi, but that said, Weeks just seriously plays throughout the proceedings. If you're looking for some physically effecting alto saxophone sounds, you'll find them in Ero Guro. Tom Weeks seriously owns things on the disc, his compositions and improvisational skills greatly on display.
Also of great effect is the rest of the group. Bassist Michael Srouji anchors the rhythm section with fat grooves and quick lines that match the saxophone when necessary. His playing shows serious simpatico with Weeks as his bass riffs run alongside those of the horns. Dig his finger picking on Onii-chan, My Hips Are Moving On Their Own and hear that of which I speak.  The tandem drums from Robert Pruett and Harry Gibbons get into some serious Funk on Tentacle Apocalypse, get all fire-ey and Free on Yamette Kudasai, and blast away furiously on Onii-chan. Their command of the compositions' details and wanton, ranging drumming power during more improvisational passages is powerful, heavy, and just all around enjoyable. This rhythm section simply kicks ass.
Ero Guro is a damn fine CD. Its sounds run a serious gamut, from wild improvisation to complex song forms and strange Musique Concrete (Interlude, with its surreal prurience: are they fucking or climbing a mountain with frost bitten digits?), it has scads of music to offer the listener.
Tom, please keep busting things up, OK? And, please, keep Disaster Amnesiac informed when you're doing this breaking!