#2402 Hermann Szobel - Szobel

I say all this as a philistine, a know-nothing of jazz.


But goddamn, this is how jazz should be.

Alive with the energy of improvisation, alive with the power of following unseeable strutctures --= but not adversarial to the listener, not blowing down barriers for its own sake, just. .. alive, writhing of its own energy, unfettered and unstruggling.

Voices come in and go, shifts seem natural -- Zappa circa Hot Rats (peak Zappa imo) gets compared a lot, and no wonder I'm into it. There's just enough of rock's ebb and flow here, its deigning to engage with feeling, with tension and release, with chaos and structure in turn, a slice through the adventurous spirit of art and the populist notion of the joy of listening.

The backstory, the impetuousness, the impermanence -- I won't do it justice here -- but it fits, a wild thrashing thing, perfect for an imperfect world, or vice versa, packed with difficult angles so easy you barely notice them until you dare to dig 4.5/5