Phrenology
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Design Flaw’s performance was part of the second annual three-day Phrenology Fest, an unofficial progress report on the improvised music scene’s newest talent. This year, the stakes had been raised. Many players who laid the foundations for the current scene and attracted outside attention now rarely perform locally. Reedist Ken Vandermark and drummer Hamid Drake spend far more time on the road than in town. Chicago Underground cornetist Rob Mazurek followed his wife to Brazil, while that group’s drummer, Chad Taylor, moved to New York–also the new home of young-gun saxophonist Scott Rosenberg. The void made the fest put-up-or-shut-up time for Chicago’s younger players.
The Hungry Brain’s Sunday night series, organized by cornetist Josh Berman and drummer Mike Reed, has been the key incubator for these new improv hatchlings since January 2001. While the Empty Bottle’s Wednesday night jazz series, a definite influence on the organizers, presents both national and international performers, the Hungry Brain almost exclusively showcases Chicagoans. This has allowed regulars to watch a new local style develop–these younger players generally have more formal musical training than their predecessors and tend to prefer structured tunes. At the moment, outfits like Design Flaw still stumble–at their Phrenology performance, Dibblee’s compositions remained too static and harmonically limited. But it’s still refreshing to watch something so gentle and composed emerge from a community reliant on freewheeling improvisation.
Daisy is one of the most active drummers in town–playing with the Vandermark 5, Triage, and Shelton’s trio Dragons 1976, among others. He was also one of the most active drummers at the festival, performing in three different groups. He injected rhythmic life into Jackson’s otherwise leaden tunes, showed off his stylistic versatility in Ajemian’s trio, and lent both color and propulsion to an excellent free improvisation set with alto saxophonist Dave Rempis, bassist Jason Roebke, and pianist and ARP maestro Jim Baker.
