Longitude

Album Review

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.