Material

Just as About and Less and More were culled from the same recording sessions, Material presents more material from Day & Taxi's two days of studio work in December 2001, a session already documented on the CD Private, released in 2003. Therefore, listeners have the same lineup (Christoph Gallio, Daniel Studer, Marco Käppeli), same sound quality (excellent), same musical direction. Even the track titles establish links between the two albums: isn't "One for B" answering the previously released "Tea for D," or "010" last year's "101"? Material even includes an alternate take of "Save," the only piece featured on both discs. Once again the album is built over an alternation between very short solo statements and longer trio pieces (four to seven minutes long). "Bianca" offers an unassumingly soft introduction that finds its antithesis in "Yumi," which is much freer in terms of melody and rhythm and quickly grows frantic. "Urs and Us" is the album's highlight. It has the sharpest theme, the most complicated twists, and the best drive. The first version presents the full theme and a number of variations and solos, while the second occurrence, "Urs und Us (Thin Version)," is actually a thoughtful double bass solo using the main theme as a springboard. The set concludes with "Monster," a Day & Taxi standard now up to its third appearance on record, but its first featuring this particular lineup. It is also given a much wilder treatment than before, Studer sounding ready to take his bass apart as Gallio churns up a guttural solo — this time, the piece actually lives up to its title. Material confirms the trio's more elemental sound introduced on Private and is a satisfactory addition to the group's discography as listeners wait for a fresh session. But get Private first. ~ François Couture, Rovi