Music Review: Dom Minasi - The Vampire’s Revenge

Not long ago, I asked for opinions from Blogcritics readers and reviewers on the subject of whether it was better to review a bad jazz album or ignore it and focus on the good stuff. Well, if I’d known just how nuanced and…well, problematic my opinion of that album would turn out, I might have thrown up my hands and iPod and walked away from the whole proposition.

There are ambitious jazz works; then, there’s guitarist Dom Minasi’s new opus, The Vampire’s Revenge. You’d better sit down for this… it’s a two-disc, nearly two-hour, 22-musician, free jazz CONCEPT ALBUM (You thought you had big ideas?). Even the lineup is ambitious: a who’s who of the Downtown avant-garde scene, the players on this CD were essentially Minasi’s “Wish List” of people with whom he either wanted to, or knew he could, play.

Conceptually, the mostly instrumental The Vampire’s Revenge was inspired by the collective works of Anne Rice…already a bad sign. But then again, Chick Corea’s last album was inspired by L. Ron Hubbard—a far, far worse sign—and that turned out to be pretty damn good. So who’s to know without a good listen?

So I gave it several good listens. And I can say this much: the music is usually fascinating, often outstanding. Minasi and his large crew work with a harmonic and orchestral language all their own; it’s a language that comes in several contexts, but nearly all are compelling ones. The constants are Ken Filiano’s rich, often arco bass; Jackson Krall’s beautifully free drumming; and Minasi’s electric guitar, which, while intense and unique, has a hefty share of Derek Bailey-isms running all up and down the plectrum, abrasive as Ajax and dissonant as all Hell. But that’s countered by the various combinations formed from the cabal of instruments. There are string sections (violin, cello, second bass); reeds (clarinet; flute; alto, tenor, and soprano sax); horns (trumpet, flugelhorn, and a circular-breathed trombone—courtesy of the fiercely original Steve Swell—that sounds like a broken didjeridoo); nearly wordless vocals by Minasi’s wife, Carol Mennie, and a poetic recitative by Peter Ratray; and two pianists, Borah Bergman and the enthralling Matthew Shipp.

Shipp, in fact, is party to one of the truly sublime moments on the record: “The Dark Side,” just about halfway through the full work, is essentially a color-in-the-spaces duet between the piano and guitar. While The Vampire’s Revenge has many moments of brilliance (particularly on the second disc), “The Dark Side” is a tremendous highlight- especially as a standalone.

Aha! When we start viewing tracks as standalones, well, that starts pointing to the problems. There’s the length, first of all. Two straight hours of jazz, even at its most accessible, is bloody difficult to take. It requires a measure of concentration that, while well rewarded (by the good stuff, anyway), is draining. In large doses like this, “draining” graduates to “exhausting.” And do you imagine that two hours of avant-garde jazz is EASIER to take than most? God, no; even the best can leave you dazed and half-crazy if you’re not careful.

Article Author: Michael J. West

Michael J. West is a writer, editor, and dilettante jazz critic in Washington, D.C. In addition to BlogCritics, he writes for JazzTimes, Washington City Paper, and AllAboutJazz.com. He occasionally writes at Pop Musicology, too. He's very cute. …

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