Beyond

by Skip JansenRecorded in New York in 2000, this trio perform some exceptional avant-garde improvised music, using electronics and loops, featuring both electric and acoustic moments. The trio features two of downtown N.Y.C.'s finest avant-garde musicians of the '80s and '90s; composer and multi instrumentalist Elliott Sharp is a ubiquitous "downtown" player, and John Zorn's favored drummer, Joey Baron, is outstanding on this candid session. The trio is completed with Italian guitarist Roberto Zorzi, who is a unique and distinctive musician, seemingly unlimited by string instruments. With Joey Baron providing angular beats and electronic rhythms, Elliott Sharp and Roberto Zorzi exchange between sundry instruments -- eight-string bass and acoustic guitar, soprano sax, and loops, dobro, and electric bass. Recorded and mixed by Sharp, the ten tracks on this CD exhibit some highly inventive music that sits on the improvised/post rock/experimental axis.