Rick Peckham Trio
“Left End”
(Perfected Music)
Technically, one would call this fusion, for it is a fusion of jazz and rock. However and fortunately, this excellent album lacks all the vaporous insubstantiality that the word “fusion” implies. In this context, the electric guitar-led trio sounds more like Captain Beefheart when exploring unusual time signatures (“353-1001”) then it does a group of over-studied technicians. This instrumental music is vigorous and surprising, visceral and attention grabbing. Peckham is here backed by New York improvising über-drummer Jim Black (YeahNo, Pachora, Ellery Eskelin, etc.) and bassist Tony Scherr (Steven Bernstein’s Sex Mob, Michael Blake’s Free Association, Bill Frisell, etc.).
