Was able make it to the fall inaugural voyage of the Firehouse 12 series. This group was a trio with Craig Taborn on piano, Ches Smith on drums, and Mette Rasmussen on alto sax. The room was well attended (although this free jazz blowout had some neophytes slinking toward the exit). Taborn is a frequent flyer at F-12 and I think he enjoys sitting down in front of the monstrous Cadillac Steinway that offers such a great sound. The chameleonic Smith has been lauded here many times. Last years Haitian group, supporting guitarists Will Bernard or Mary Halvorson, Ches square pegs himself into many a round hole. His lanky drumming style allows him to effortlessly play complex runs. Piano and drums were necessary foils to the alto force Rasmussen. Danish born, but now based in Trondheim Norway, Mette is certainly a young lioness. She has played with a wide variety of jazz luminaries and does time in the legendary Fire! Orchestra. She squeaked and squawked like Peter Brotzmann and then played lyrical passages like Sonny Rollins. Not sure where the Weird of mouth moniker came from, certainly Smiths facial expressions were unusual, but the weird mouth goes to Rasmussen. She coaxed many sounds, screeching staccatos and repetitive blasts gave this challenging music a trance-like quality.
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