JAZZ
BY ANDY COWAN
Mike Reed
★★★★
The Separatist Party
WE JAZZ/ASTRAL SPIRITS. CD/DL/LP
Chicago drummer/composer tackles isolation alongside Marvin Tate, Ben LaMar Gay and Bitchin Bajas.
The first in an ambitious three-album cycle, The Separatist Party finds Mike Reed in his compositional element, having spent much of his career paying homage to Chicago’s rich jazz heritage on his own distinct terms. A veteran of AACM and the Artifacts collective, Reed’s barrier-free approach is matched by his sextet. Ex-poetry slam champion Marvin Tate is in powerful effect throughout, whether declaring “Your soul is a moshpit” over the opener’s contrasting bass lines and tapping pulses, or intersecting Cooper Crain’s taut guitar figure on One Of Us, as street poetry meets free bop surges. Engaging and invested, A Low Frequency Nightmare and a cover of Ari Brown’s Roland Kirk tribute Rahsaan In The Serengeti bring out his other guests’ best qualities on a multi-layered, groove-oriented celebration of communion.