TO BE CONTINUED
Carol Liebowitz, piano 
Claire de Brunner, bassoon
Daniel Carter, tenor, alto, soprano saxophones, flute, trumpet, clarinet 
Kevin Norton, vibraphone, drums, percussion

REVIEW OF POETRY FOR THE FUTURE

To Be Continued features Carol Liebowitz on piano, Claire de Brunner on bassoon, Daniel Carter on tenor & alto saxes, trumpet, clarinet & flute and Kevin Norton on vibes, percussion & drums. Ms. Liebowitz used to record for the New Artists label which was run by the late Connie Crothers and featured a number of musicians associated with jazz legend Lennie Tristano. More recently, Ms. Liebowitz has been involved in Line Art Records, this is their/her third release. For this disc, Ms. Liebowitz is joined by three other like-minded players: bassoonist Claire de Brunner has played here at DMG with Ken Silverman and a couple of times with the ubiquitous multi-reeds & brass man, Daniel Carter. Gifted percussionist, composer and professor, Kevin Norton, recently did a residency at The Stone (July of 2017) and played with a different group every night. This quartet played that week as well.

The instrumentation of piano, bassoon, reeds and percussion give this a chamber-like quality although the thoughtful improvisations are unpredictable yet calm and focused. Ever since hearing Lindsay Cooper from Henry Cow on bassoon and Paul McCandless from Oregon on oboe, I have been a big fan of double reeds. Daniel Carter plays with many improvisers from varied scenes, finding a way to fit into more types of music than any other Downtown musician. Carter can be explosive when playing with other Free Jazz warriors but here he lays back, the quartet taking their time and listening closely to each other. Much of this reminds me of Morton Feldman, sparse in part with each note being carefully selected. At times, there is sad, soft, melancholy vibe at the center, yet things do erupt at times but never very going too far out. Even when things begin to boil, there is calm spirit in the center of the storm. If this is indeed Poetry from the Future, then we are in good hands. 

Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
August 4, 2017