In Concert: From There to Hear

This solo CD by percussionist Jerome Cooper cannot be considered unnecessary — his few LPs as a leader have not been reissued on CD (at least when this one came out). In Concert: From There to Hear was put together from a handful of performances at Roulette and the Knitting Factory (both in New York) between 1995 and 1998. Cooper performs on a regular jazz drum kit, African instruments (talking drums, balafon), electronic drums, keyboards, samplers, and the chiramia, a Mexican double-reed instrument. His music is hard to pigeonhole, to say the least. Imagine a drummer who plays this flute with one hand, bass drum and high-hat with his feet, and triggers drum loops, chord sequences, and bass patterns with his other hand. Whether it is written or improvised, the resulting music is closer to world funk than avant-garde jazz. "Bantul" is propelled by a gamelan-like melody played on the balafon. "Monk Funk" opens with a synthetic drum loop backing Cooper's cymbal playing. Five minutes later he moves to other parts of his kit before grabbing his chiramia and settling into a melody and groove. "My Funny Valentine" and "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" have little to do with the standards they represent and will infuriate any purist. "My Life" is completely improvised, but the use of predetermined sequences and the development of a melody on balafon make it sound as structured as the other tracks on the disc. Highly confusing for anyone into avant-garde music and free improv, Cooper's music represents a strange hybrid and a very personal form of expression. Yet, surprisingly, its vocabulary remains somewhat limited. ~ François Couture, Rovi