Patrons of the Western Front, will have a chance Wednesday
to hear one of the most significant new-music groups, the Brooklyn-based
Babkas, which has made some notable appearances at lower Manhattan's
Knitting Factory, a major center for avant-garde experimentation.
The trio, formed in late 1992, consists of Brad Schoeppach,
guitar; Briggan Krauss, alto sax; and Aaron Alexander drums. Although
still young men, they've all played with top-notch musicians.
Schoeppach has recorded and performed with Paul Motian
and Dave Douglas, who may very well turn out to be the greatest jazz
trumpeter to emerge in the 1990s. Like Douglas, Schoeppach's had experience
in klezmer and Balkan as well as jazz bands.
Alexander, also a veteran of jazz and klezmer bands,
has played with the Mazeltones, Charlie Byrd, Julian Priester and
Mose Allison. Krauss recorded a couple of CDs with Wayne Horvitz,
the keyboard player in John Zorn's Naked City, and has been in groups
with Bill Frisell, Bob Moses and Priester.
What Babkas does best is improvise; some of the selections
on its CD "Babkas" (Songlines) are completely improvised;
that is, they do not employ pre- set chord progressions, modes, tempos
or meters. Members of thc trio listen hard, trying to complement each
other's statements during collectively improvised passages. They've
been successful to the extent that some listeners find it hard to
believe their simultaneous ad-libbing is not written or memorized.
Alexander and Schoeppach, both serious composers,
also contribute provocative original pieces that have set elements
on which the improvising is based. Schoeppach's "Czugy Stodel,"
for example, has a subtle Eastern European influence. Originally from
Seattle, the guitarist was influenced early by Frlsell and ,John Scofield.
He's his own man now, though, an imaginative single-note line player
who also employs a full palette of electronic effects. His work can
be spare and thoughtful or driving and complex.
St. Paul, Minn.-native Krauss likes to play fast -
he has a bushel basket full of ideas and good chops. He fragments
his solos stimulatingly and is skilled at motivic development. The
altoist employs John Zorn- like screaming and quacking sounds to advantage.
His tone on "Babkas" could use improvement, however; it
lacks presence and is undistinctive. But this is a relatively minor
fault in view of his virtues.
Alexander is an all-around musician whose playing,
while often complicated, isn't intrusive or heavy. A real team man,
Alexander leaves room for Krauss and Schoeppach to stretch out.
"A big part of what we do is trusting and listening
to each other," says Alexander. "I feel better about Babkas
than any band I've been with. I'm really excited about it."
So is Schoeppach, who looks forward to the release
within a month of the Songlines CD "Ants to the Moon." "Ants"
con- tains an ambitious three-part suite by Schoeppach, "Cautlonarv
Tale."