Tom Baker Quartet - Look What I Found
Artist: Tom Baker Quartet
Title: Look What I Found
Label: Present Sounds Recordings
Reviewed by Eddie Becton
Jazz musicians often reject media-imposed musical categories and descriptors. Even some of the world's greatest artists such as Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis abhorred having others codify their music. Guitarist Tom Baker may very well fall into the category of one who rejects “conventional” jazz standards. His latest release, Look What I Found, is a collection of boundary-stretching melodies, harmonies and lines. At times, it conjures-up the tonal quality of Ornette Coleman and Pat Metheny's Song X and at others, the free-flowing compositional style of pianist Dave Fox.
Grace has a whimsical quality about it, which suggests Baker is unafraid of challenging convention, of being unafraid to have fun, which is what music ostensibly should be. As well, Through A Glass Abstractly could easily be incorporated as a soundtrack into a spooky Bela Lugosi movie, its tension created by the interaction between Baker's guitar gymnastics and Jesse Canterbury's (clarinet) haunting yet ethereal notes.
Amidst the musical storm, Family of Four is a soothing tune that features Canterbury's pensive, melodic lines. The aural conversation largely involves Canterbury, Baker, and Brian Cobb (bass), the latter providing deep bass lines that enhance the tune's cerebral quality.
For listeners who enjoy freedom of musical expression and unpredictable rhythms, Look What I Found will be widely embraced. Creative, free, and, at times, funky, this disc is likely to resonate with listeners who enjoy seemingly abstract tones and rhythms. At times, Baker pushes the musical envelope while at others calms the nerves as in the track Swampled. This piece combines various structures and melodies, akin to a musical storm. The introduction is fiery and explosive, but soon gives way to Canterbury's mellifluous clarinet.
Track Listing: Swampled/ Waiting Room/ Grace/ Through A Glass Abstractly/ Family of Four/ Song for Ludmilla/ Anton and Louis/ Free Steps/ Metamorphosis Happens/ Dancing in the Ether.
Personnel: Tom Baker – guitar and fretless guitar; Greg Campbell – drums; Brian Cobb – bass; Jesse Canterbury – clarinet.