The Art of Improvisation: Leroy Jenkins' Driftwood

One of the final recordings of Leroy Jenkins before his passing, this collaborative quartet dubbed Driftwood indeed emphasizes instruments made of wood in nomadic improvisational pretexts. The instrumentation alongside the witty, wise, and wanderlust violin style of Jenkins is as collectively unique in its pursuit of new sound timbres. Min Xiao-Fen on pipa, pianist Denman Maroney, and percussionist Rich O’Donnell play off each other, rarely coalescing or coagulating. Instead they hear, react, and respond as if setting off remarkable bright bursts of brushfire light and heat, snuffing it out, and setting another smoldering patch. This separate and equal dynamic allows both the group democracy and familial qualities that Jenkins has always favored. The four spontaneous compositions reflect specific themes — “To Live,” “To Sing,” “To Run,” and “To Believe” — with each piece identified by its classically termed tempo and beats per minute. “To Live” is a mix of modest improv in a slow blender, very compatible and rich, but not dense, with the distinct, active violin of Jenkins leading out. “To Sing” at 18 minutes is the marathon, and has Maroney’s witty piano with Xiao-Fen’s incredible pipa sounds pacifying a thinner accompaniment, with strict solo space for each individualist. “To Run” is obviously frantic and hyper with all four instruments vying for position, while “To Believe” is in no time with thematic slices played somewhat together, with the dialect more finite. Maroney and O’Donnell are team players, while the effervescent Jenkins sounds as good as ever, and Xiao-Fen’s pipa sets up a unique sonic palette that would be hard to duplicate with any other two instruments, much less ones in the upper-octave range. This is a most successful project, one that should be enjoyed equally by those interested in creative improvised and world music. – Michael G. Nastos