Elvin Jones, Cecil Taylor, Dewey Redman - Momentum Space (1999)

1.Nine
2.Bekei
3.Spoonin'
4.Life as...
5.It
6.Is
7.Dew.

Momentum Space throws a sucker punch with its billing as a trio album, when in fact the three legends--tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, drummer Elvin Jones, and pianist Cecil Taylor--only perform together on two selections. But when they perform as a trio, it's a rare treat. On Redman's "Nine" Taylor unravels his customary arsenal of tone clusters, percussive jabs, and jarring trills. Jones keeps Taylor's nervy activity and Redman's sweet passionate cries in forward motion as he propels the composition with thundering polyrhythms. The trio takes a comparatively reflective view on Taylor's "Is," in which the pianist's broken-glass-like shards are balanced by Redman's Ornette-ish wails. The other compositions feature the musicians in either duet or solo settings. Taylor's solo performance of "Life As" finds the CD at its most pensive, while the duet between Redman and Jones on "Spoonin'" amounts to the CD's most playful and swinging moments. All in all, Momentum Space results in an engaging, if not erratic, listening experience. --John Murph

Dewey Redman (tenor saxophone); Cecil Taylor (piano); Elvin Jones (drums).

Recorded at Avatar Recording Studio, New York, New York on August 4 & 5, 1998. Includes liner notes by Cecil Taylor, Dewey Redman and Philippe Carles.

Few names conjure the ideal of sonic adventurousness as distinctly as those of Dewey Redman, Cecil Taylor, and Elvin Jones. With MOMENTUM SPACE, this explosive triumvirate comes together to present an uncommonly challenging and intriguing recording. At every turn, Redman's expressive wails, Taylor's dynamic explorations, and Jones' bombastic thunder seem to challenge the very laws of nature. Indeed, what we hear are three musical forces converging as one, pushing, pulling, blasting, and pounding their way into uncharted territory.
The opening "Nine," an eleven-minute wall of sound that proceeds to shake the foundations of all you hold dear, should be enough to clear away any preconceptions. "Bekei," Jones' staggering solo piece, is an inspiring percussive statement that only a master of his magnitude could proclaim. The Redman/Jones duet "Spoonin" blasts us with the spirit of Coltrane before Taylor leads us on a solo journey of the imagination with "Life As." "It" and the epic "Is" are much too complex to explain with words, but the bizarre sounds that Redman produces on the brief "Dew" can be described with but one: unforgettable.