Caught in the Rhythm

Most of the times, when you listen to an album, you compare it to something that you've heard before that might be similar to it. That doesn't work with this album, as it is quite unique in its concept and delivery. Carry on...

An ambitious project by composer and saxist Benjamin Boone is recorded here, as a mix of not only poems, but poets, and not only poets but musicians in various conglomerations juxtapose a both a wide range of messages, but a wide range of sonic styles.

Musically, Boone's rich horn and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire do some pulses with a bopping section of Kenny Werner/p, Corcoran Holt/b and Ari Hoenig under Patrick Sylvain's reciting of "Caught In The Rhythm" while Greg Osby's alto is California Cool as an adjunct to team up with Edward Hirsch's easy swing salute on "Art Pepper". Faylita Hicks gives a riveting reading for "ASMR Sleepcast" with kind of bluish support from Boone's soprano sax, while prismatic abstractions feature screeching tones surrounding Kimiko Hahn's delivery of "Oliva Suggests All The Women in Class...". Some pieces, such as "Poem 836/The Diviner" meld Emily Dickinson with spacey, bohemian and edgy tones from guitarists Ben Monder and Eyal Maoz, while "The Case Against Poetry" brings in dark and eerie ambience.

The wide range of messages, vocal delivery styles and musical frames makes for a kaleidoscopic mix of words and tones, with Boone often reaching and successfully grasping the far off goal of ideas.