responses

Kay Corditz, Elmore Magazine

Hipmotism
Merge

by Kay Corditz
Elmore Magazine
May 2007

Baritone saxophone master Erik Lawrence plays in several bands with some equally gifted friends, and two of those collaborations released CDs this winter. As their name suggests, Hipmotism is a group of sophisticated and unconventional jazz musicians. Their lighthearted slogan, Doing Crazy and Possibly Illegal Things to Music, is also a pretty good description of their high energy new CD. Longtime friends with deep roots in the jazz community, the members of the band put their collective and individual imagination and talent to work on some memorable and occasionally familiar songs. On all 10 tracks, horn men Erik Lawrence and Steven Bernstein intelligently embroider the wide groove cooked up by bassist Rene Hart and drummer Allison Miller.

Starting out in a fairly traditional vein with a rowdy version of Dinah Washington’s "Soulville," Lawrence’s sax and Bernstein’s trumpet propel the party over Hart and Miller’s funky rhythm. Ray Charles’ "Lonely Avenue" starts out spooky and then goes deeper, Hart playing the melody for awhile before going back beneath the howling horns And when the upright bass hits the familiar riff that announces the Beatles’ "Come Together," the musical possibilities begin to unfold like gorgeous blossoms. The horns croon together on Duke Ellington's languorous "Creole Love Call, while Lawrence’s saxophone beguiles on Fats Domino’s "Going to the River," and Bernstein’s slide trumpet is wild and feverish on Pink Floyd’s "Shine On You Crazy Diamond."Lawrence wrote the CD’s title track, as well as the scatty "Time The Is Now" and the swinging "Sonny Days." These numbers and Earl Gaines’s "Big Chief," kicked off by Miller's infectious beats, are familiar to veterans of Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles, where Lawrence and Bernstein are in the house band.

Both CDs were recorded at Helm’s Woodstock studio, a barn-like structure with soaring ceilings and its vibrant acoustics enrich the sound. Three quarters of Hipmotism joined forces there with poet Cassandra Cleghorn on the poetry and music collaboration Merge. In the beat tradition of Jack Kerouac and David Amram, Cleghorn’s language snakes around and through the riffs and improvisations of her brilliant musical cohorts. Lawrence’s soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones and flute and alto flute mirror Cleghorn’s fancies of natural forces from insects to the wind. Her hypnotic voice is sweet and dreamy on "Fireflies," angry and profane on "Project Grizzly," but it is always provocative, with an edge and a story. A classically trained violinist who now favors fiddle music as well as jazz, Cleghorn devotes four songs to an exploration of her instrument: "Box," "Gut," "Bow" and "Gum." For someone who never thought much about how a violin is made, it is a feast of telling details. On "Bourree," a duet between the poet and Miller, the melody is occasionally supplied by the drummer.. Sometimes Cleghorn’s words are so evocative they sing without accompaniment ("The Map"), and Lawrence’s saxophone on the sublime "Matter of Time" is poetry without words. Merge plans to release another CD, Mystery Loves Company, in the fall to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Kerouac/Amram collaboration.