Tim Flood straddles two musical worlds -- avant-garde jazz and electronica -- on his 2012 release, Mag Mell. The bassist's longest-running gig (intermittently active since 1997) is the modern creative jazz trio Bishop/Cleaver/Flood, also featuring reedman Andrew Bishop and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Bishop/Cleaver/Flood offer a fiery yet controlled take on the avant sax-bass-drums trio concept, blending spacious improvisation with modern compositional strategies. Flood is a supple yet strong presence in acoustic jazz settings such as B/C/F, but his interests also extend toward electronica -- he's a fan of trailblazing German electronic artists like Cluster -- and those interests are fully displayed on the intriguing jazz-electronica mélange of Mag Mell. But don't expect contemplative background music here, as Tom Hohmann's underground comix-flavored cover art -- seemingly depicting the record's namesake oceanic paradise of Irish mythology as a setting for all manner of wild'n'wet goings-on -- should make clear. If there's a '60s-'70s German electronic angle, expect Cecil Taylor, not Brian Eno, to show up in Cluster's studio. That much is clear from "Cam'st Thou with a Prayer," the leadoff track that begins Mag Mell's concise 22-minute journey. Flood's customary partners of Bishop and Cleaver are here, but so is pianist Jacob Sacks, unrestrained in his attack on the keys. He explodes through advanced harmonics à la Taylor beneath a free-form assault from the other players, at one point nearly buried under the reeds, bass, and flailing drums whose electronic treatments transform the onslaught into a massive roaring beast. The musicians' separate identities emerge although Bishop's bass clarinet remains looped and distorted into something huge and otherworldly even as the overall energy level dissipates into the final slow decay of a cymbal's vibration.

1		Cam'st Thou With a Prayer
2		Unwrapped Tears
3		Shattered Sail Upon the Canvas
4		Flowing Backward
5		Glitter Spirit
6		Souls Stained
7		The Ocean Brides

	Like us on Facebook
	@SoundHound	Follow