Michael Bisio: NuMBq

Michael Bisio borrows the phrase "and now for something completely different" from Monty Python's Flying Circus to describe his new quartet, NuMBq. Joining the bassist is longtime collaborator Jay Rosen on drums, along with two musicians traditionally rooted in classical music: violist Melanie Dyer and English horn player Marianne Osiel. With NuMBq, Bisio blurs the line between chamber music and jazz—but let's not confine this session to the Third Stream category.

Early jazz-classical hybrids, such as Charlie Parker with Strings (Clef Recordings, 1955), often felt like an attempt to fit a square peg into a round hole. Later experiments by Gunther Schuller, Miles Davis and Gil Evans emphasized the contrast between the two styles rather than their fusion. Bisio's compositions take a different approach, aligning more closely with Ornette Coleman's Prime Design/Time Design (Caravan of Dreams, 1986), in which improvisation and structure coexist seamlessly.

The album's opening track, "Elegy for MG," begins with Rosen's shimmering cymbals and delicate drumming before settling into a chamber-like atmosphere, with Bisio's bowed bass guiding the viola, English horn, and Rosen's subtle chimes. As the piece unfolds, improvisation emerges naturally within the flow of Bisio's compositions. This refined interplay stands in contrast to the restless energy of "Densities Roy G Biv," a freewheeling group improvisation bursting with layered textures. "Going Home/Amazing Grace" is the most intimate track on the album, featuring a lyrical conversation between Bisio's expressive bass and Dyer's viola as they weave together two traditional melodies. Meanwhile, the stormy "Vib Gyor" builds with dense dynamic tension, as individual notes pierce through the maelstrom. "Broken Waltz" carries a similar urgency, evoking the chaos of navigating through heavy traffic.

Bisio and his quartet don't simply merge jazz and chamber music—they reshape the boundaries of both, creating a sound that is as unpredictable as it is captivating.

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