Kyle Brenders Quartet

Musical freedom comes in many forms, shapes and shades. Often a pretext for self-indulgent wanking, in the case of multi-instrumentalist/composer Kyle Brenders, it's his self-imposed challenge to create demanding, precise dimensional music. From the opening quick march of "Sciatica," with its harmonized melody, to the leader's raucous tenor solo, Offset declares itself passionately engaged in thoughtful music making. "Terrace," with Brenders on clarinet, stops, starts, hovers, converses, muses and digs into a tightly rehearsed ensemble chart in which trombonist Steve Ward plays indefatigable shadow motifs that move the deliberately hesitant proceedings along. "Porlock" has a rhythmic relentlessness provided by drummer Mark Segger and bassist Tomas Bouda, both playing Brenders Braxton-esque compositions with impeccable clarity and precision. Furthermore, Brenders gets wild and woolly on soprano, with braying multiphonics, bent notes, open-jawed howls and some hot licks. Brenders' music is realized at a high level already. Wondering what the next ten years will bring? Bets are it will be, like Offset, well worth listening to.