Patricia Brennan is a vibes and marimba player originally from Veracruz in Mexico who has spent the last 20 years in the USA. For her latest album she has added three horns – trumpeter Adam O’Farrill and saxophonists, Jon Irabagon and Mark Shim – to her basic quartet of Kim Cass on bass, Marcus Gilmore on drums and Mauricio Herrera on percussion and the leader herself.
The horns bring a strong brassy sound to the overall percussive feel of the group. Brennan is anxious to retain something of her Mexican legacy in her music and she quotes the son jarocho from Veracruz as a major influence on her compositions. She also quotes the Fania Allstars salsa band and Earth, Wind and Fire as key influences.
The music on all tracks is upbeat and strongly rhythmic with complex compositions and dense layering of sound in the improvised passages. Los Otros Yo (The Other Selves) sets the tone; percussive ensemble playing leads into an excellent vibes solo from Brennan punctuated by brassy interjections. Thereafter we have a series of short solos from O’Farrill’s trumpet, Mark Shim’s tenor sax and Marcus Gilmore’s drums before the theme returns. Throughout the music is driven by the strong rhythms of the drums and percussion.
The title track Breaking Stretch continues in the same vein; initially the three horns play without accompaniment before the rest of the group enters. After the statement of the theme, Irabagon takes over on alto sax weaving a fine solo over the densely packed rhythmic backing. Shim on tenor sax then enters with an equally impressive solo. O’Farrill adds a touch of electronics to the final ensemble passage. This is the pattern throughout, intense compositions followed by relatively short solos from the horns and vibes or marimba played over complex rhythmic patterns. It is exciting music with a lot happening, but on occasions it becomes rather too frenetic, especially on the two of the tracks with Latin (Spanish) titles, Palos de Oros and Sueños De Coral Azul.
There is, however, some light and shade; Mudanza features some attractive marimba playing from Brennan over an electronic backing and Earendol, named after the most distant star, features initially a repeated phrase from the vibes over electronics and then percussion before Shim and Irabagon develop longer, more satisfying solos.
Another impressive release from Pyroclastic Records, established by Kris Davis, the Canadian pianist/composer who has been resident in New York for many years. Her label has an impressive roster including Davis herself and her Diatom Ribbons group, Ingrid Laubrock, Ches Smith, Nate Woolley, Angelica Sanchez, Tony Malaby… and was recognised in the recent Downbeat Critics Poll for record labels, taking third spot after Blue Note and Pi Records.
