The level of curation of the International Anthem label remains impressive. Each release seems to advance the jazz form while sending a listener into another place altogether. The new one from Aquiles Navarro & Tcheser Holmes, Heritage of the Invisible II nearly deconstructs what we call modern jazz, while adding in elements that seem more typical of industrial even.
Opener "Internal Meditation" buzzes like Cabaret Voltaire, while "plaintains" is free jazz from the Sixties updated for our age. Elsewhere, "Pueblo" marries trumpet with skittering cymbal hits and drum whacks, while the epic "NAVARROHOLMES" succeeds because of the furious drumming throughout this one, and the muted, precise horn hits. Aquiles Navarro plays the trumpet like Seventies Miles all over this record, while Tcheser Holmes punishes the drums, among other instruments, with the kind of force we've not heard since Elvin Jones took up sticks. The duo's playing is conventional in spots, but the organization of the tracks, and the samples and other elements within them, make this entire record something that feels more than jazz. For every moment here that should resonate with old heads, there's another that will surprise or even shock the old-timers.
Heritage of the Invisible II by Aquiles Navarro & Tcheser Holmes is out now via International Anthem.
[Photo: Denis Batuev]