(...another in an occasional series of reviews of "music you can't dance to without hurting yourself")

Jazz? Dunno... Improvised music? Definitely. There's no melody here, so don't go lookin' for one. On the other hand, it's not like random notes are being struck (though I'm sure this stuff can sound that way at first).

So, you're asking....what's the deal? (Oh, maybe you're not asking that...maybe melody is important to you. It's what a song wraps itself around...if that's you then, well, you've been warned).

I think of Joe Morris as the Cecil Tayler of guitar. Maybe a little Ornette's in there too. What you will hear is a unique style of play. Not a lot of chords, a clean tone, tons of single-note runs, and a logic that takes a while to reveal itself. Probably the most 'normal' jazz adjective that applies here is angular. Very angular. Joe has a way of stating a very short theme (as short as a couple of notes), 'commenting' on it, and then extending (and sometimes morphing) that theme a little more. This pattern repeats itself in an expanding sonic collage.

The funny thing is that the music isn't nearly as chaotic as that. For some reason Morris' recordings (especially here on this solo acoustic guitar set) remind me of staring at a waterfall (phew! is that new-agey enough for ya?!)....while there's a certain flow or direction to the music there are also many unpredictable elements. It's that sorta-randomness that makes it so interesting.

Solo instruments not your thing? Morris has recorded in many other groupings (usually on electric guitar) including duos (check out the great Soul Search with violinist Mat Maneri), trios and quartets.

If you're looking for a little mind-expanding instrumental music then you just might want to check Joe Morris out.

Just don't try to dance to it.

(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)