Improvisers'
Collective Summer Fest
Tonic Lounge,
3100 NE Sandy Blvd., 239-5154
9 pm Thursday
and Friday, Aug. 3-4
$5 each night
Thursday's lineup
(in order of appearance): Steve Lobdell, Hochenkeit, The
Cosmos Group, Quasi
Friday's lineup
(in order of appearance): Portland Drum Machine Circle,
The Planet The, Larry Yes & David Parks, Jackie-O Motherfucker
While Portland's rock and jazz clubs pack full every weekend,
it's rare for fugitives to jump the invisible border between
the two thriving scenes.
A few indie rockers might lionize off-center icons like
Chicago's Tortoise. A handful of jazz jockeys might deign
to grace Satyricon when Don Caballero swings through town,
stroking their chins and muttering, "Hmm, yes...that intro
was strikingly reminiscent of Trane's head on 'Naima'...."
In general, though, there's very little crossover.
Maybe that's because most local jazz fans prefer mainstream
bop and smooth fusion, while many rockers remain suspicious
of any band that doesn't bristle with stacks of Marshall
amps.
Or maybe they just haven't seen the Cosmos Group yet.
If they heard Dewey Mahood's electroshock guitar as he
hammers it with the back of a tablespoon, the jazz snobs
might bow to a band that thunders with punk aggression.
If leather-clad rockaholics felt the terrible rain of Johnny
Schier's stutter-and-slash drumming, they might pledge allegiance
to skills that owe as much to Knitting Factory oddness as
straight-up rock. And if they found themselves in the path
of Jude Webre's gut-rumbling bass charge, both crews might
put aside their differences in the name of survival.
As linchpins in the Improvisers' Collective, the Cosmos
kids work toward a detente between the underground experimental
jazz and rock scenes. This tense negotiation reaches a boil
at the first Improv Collective Summer Music Fest, two nights
at the Tonic Lounge showcasing the diverse bands at the
core of Portland's most vital musical movement.
An ear-splintering set in a Northeast Portland living room
last weekend demonstrated the Cosmos Group's H-Bomb power.
Schier's frantic pounding alternately held the music together
and willfully ripped it apart. Webre's playing was surprisingly
deep and slow, a soulful counterweight to Mahood's spraying
chaos.
Thank God, the Cosmos Group is not another lo-fi pop band
dressing two-chord compositions in precious tales of bike-riding
and puppy love. But it's equally removed from the regimented
displays of joyless ability that have become the stock in
trade of most avant-ish rock bands. How does the Cosmos
Group reconcile its frightening skills with a freedom-loving
lust for the stars?
At last year's AIMFest, Mahood and Webre discovered some
common musical ambitions between sets by their respective
bands, Elephant Factory and The Planet The. Later, as Webre
remembers it, Schier--beatmaster for Last of the Juanitas--approached
him, saying, "So, you wanna play some jazz?"
Considering the elements at work--guitarist from a jagged
pop band, bassist from a tight math-rock group, drummer
from a crushing art-metal outfit--it's no surprise that
the Cosmos Group annihilates walls between genres. But the
band's ability to navigate styles is impressive nonetheless.
"We played at the Ash Street Saloon this week, and we more
or less played a rock set," says Webre. "But I thrive in
an unstructured environment, and there are a lot of times
when I'm not really paying much attention to the other guys."
"We can be a rock band, or we can go off," adds Mahood.
"It just depends on the situation and our mood," Webre
continues. "And whether the crowd can deal with it."
Far from being freeform freakouts, most of the trio's songs
have recognizable arrangements. The Cosmos Group simply
chooses to smash and burn these structures from time to
time.
Says Mahood with a wry smile: "We have to know the song
so we can fuck it up."
The desire to "fuck it up" helps set the Cosmos Group apart
from heavily scripted instrumental rock bands on the local
scene and from cross-genre jazz-rock bands of the Medeski,
Martin and Wood variety.
"I listen to that stuff, and I respect the people that
do it," explains Webre. "But I've listened to a few too
many punk rock records to take it too seriously."
The Cosmos Group's quest to unite jazz's liberty with rock's
fire might have a hard time winning converts in a world
where cookie-cutter pop still rules. But there's hope.
"The Portland improv scene has been simmering underneath
the surface for a long time," says Webre. "But I feel like
it's really coming together as something cohesive."
The Improv Collective Summer Fest may be the litmus test
to see just how far this cross-pollination can go. But no
matter what happens, the Cosmos Group's own furious fusion
will still be around to vaporize genre boundaries and challenge
the edge of control.
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