In live performance, N.Y.C. drummer Jim Black can't help but grab a lion's share of the audience attention from his bandmates. Even in ensembles led by such stellar players as Dave Douglas, Tim Berne, Ellery Eskelin, or Chris Speed, his percussive pyrotechnics are simply riveting, and one wonders whether those bandleaders have noticed the many instances when everyone's eyes are locked on the guy back there thrashing away on the skins and adding coloristic flourishes with a host of oddball paraphernalia. Fans of post-bop are among those who sit up straight and take notice; yes, he has caused even trad jazz jaws to drop. Black has now released his first CD as a bandleader, and he's pulled a bit of a fast one on the jazz crowd -- the eponymous debut of his AlasNoAxis quartet skews away from being a jazz record, even an avant jazz record, much of the time. AlasNoAxis sometimes explore the type of music the drummer's jazz-focused fans might expect; there may be some modern creative experimentation as practiced by Berne or Eskelin, but the avant Balkan jazz of Tiny Bell Trio or the Mediterranean-influenced groovefest of Pachora is not much in evidence at all. This is closer to Black's work with Chris Speed's yeah NO or the Human Feel collective, but even rockier than either of those. And, whether intentionally or not, AlasNoAxis even draw a bit from the annals of prog and art rock, with Icelandic electric guitarist Hilmar Jensson throwing a few Robert Fripp and David Torn influences into the mix now and then. Wisely, Black understands that an album such as this can't rely on his percussive skills alone; the kinetic excitement of his live performances won't transfer 100 percent to recorded media, so his composing and arranging skills will have to come into play. And come into play they do.

1		M m
2		Optical
3		Maybe
4		Ambacharm
5		Garden Frequency
6		Poet Staggered
7		Backfloatpedal
8		Icon
9		Luxuriate
10		Boombye
11		Auk and Dromedary
12		Trace
13		Nion
14		Melize
15		Angels and Artiface

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