Up to my ears in a project today, so not much to say other than my continued exploration of Horace Tapscott’s (and UGMAA’s–the Underground Musicians and Artists Association) music continues to bring me great pleasure.

Tapscott plays great on this live recording, as does bassist Robert Miranda, but percussionist Sonship Theus is the star, sustaining an almost ritualistic tension for the better part of the set. Thing about Tapscott: his comrades are purt-near always ready, willing, and able to wreck shop.

Tapscott isn’t present on alto saxophonist/ flautist Dadisi Komolafe’s Hassan’s Walk, but Komolafe is one of the most aggressive players to emerge from UGMMA, and the rhythm section is the same as above, and equally impressive. Though Komolafe does fine on Monk and Shorter covers, his own title tune lets him step all the way out, and the tone he establishes on the traditional “Calvary” lives up to the song’s title.

Yep, this one is Black Panther-commissioned and Black Panther-sung, but the band arrangements and the group piano is Tapscott–enough to get him an FBI file.

Short-shrift Division:

I can only go with an album trailer here, but the energy and repetitions are so intense and even wild that, though it would drive most sane folks insane, it just might be my favorite jazz record of 2018. If you know Roscoe Mitchell’s Nonaah, imagine it ablaze.