Groundtruther have an interesting concept: electric/acoustic drummer
Bobby Previte and eight-string guitar genius
Charlie Hunter team up with an invited third member for albums of live
improvisation. The first album,
Latitude, was basically a continuation of
Come In Red Dog, This Is Tango Leader (
Hunter and
Previte's first collaboration), with
Greg Osby on sax adding an additional melodic element. For
Longitude,
DJ Logic is the invited guest, and the roles shift considerably. Since
Logic has a wider sound palette than
Osby does,
Previte moves away from the
electronic drums and triggered samples of earlier releases toward a more standard kit as
Logic takes control of the "odd sounds."
Hunter assumes more of a lead role without a melodic foil and often applies thick distortion. In fact, you've never heard so much distortion coming out of
Hunter's rig, and it sounds fantastic. He also shows that he's a wicked lead player, and not always about sounding like two guys at once.
Logic adds all kinds of interesting sonic flotsam and jetsam, and
Previte really lets loose on a couple tunes. The album basically plays as serious grooves separated by shorter, sometimes
ambient pieces, but it never gets boring or formulaic. It seems
Groundtruther are just as versatile as they are musical. It will be interesting to see where the music goes when
Altitude, the third in the trilogy, is released. The
Thirsty Ear Blue Series has had a great run of very interesting, very new sounds in
jazz, and
Longitude is another winner. ~ Sean Westergaard
