NU Soul Zodiac

They Say...

Review by Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide

The Gold Sparkle band displays a lot of savvy with their improv-based street smarts, and have some originality of their own to showcase on these 11 power-packed tracks. Waters wrote six of these pieces: "Nu Millennium Waltz" uses ostinato bass, clarinet, tenor, and trumpet to produce an unruly, edgy, hard-swinging mood. "Other Anthem" sports a swirling repeated line that swings à la Coleman, with a free bridge for solos. "Motor City Fugue" (dedicated to the Detroit band Immigrant Suns) is a pensive ballad with rich harmonies, while "Fellowship" (dedicated to Other Dimensions in Music) has a dirge-like, bass-informed intro that gives way to a dense, hymnal texture and free bashing. "Soul Zodiac" incorporates a 10/8 groove, an in-out style, and Barker's drum work (which clearly recalls Ed Blackwell), while the most humorous selection, "Carousel Lost," goes plain goofy with swing. Ruzow contributes three cuts: the funky and real "Double Bump," in which a snippet of melody merges with rip-roaring trumpet and tenor; "Borges," which has a free and loose structure reminiscent of Old and New Dreams; and the meditational "Promises of Democracy," a dour and cynical number with haunting arco bass and what sounds like an overdubbed cello or second bass. The two collective improvs, "The Aleph" and "Splintered Synapse," are similar in their intrepid attitude, but the former is frantic and skittish, while the latter is clearly influenced by Albert Ayler. Derivations aside, the Gold Sparkle Band have one foot squarely planted in the avant tradition and the other in terrain previously mapped by the innovators of this music. A sparkling future should lie ahead for this bold, young band of freedom-seeking navigators. Highly recommended to fans of this style.