PAPATAMUS REDUX

CHARLES LESTER MUSIC  (RECORDED JUNE 2023)n

If Mark Twain was reviewing Infinite Dimensions, he might use a quote that has been attributed to him — “if you don’t like the weather, it will change in a minute.” There are moments in Infinite Dimensions where pianist Joel Futterman and saxophonist Ike Levin create dense and discordant music. Wait a few minutes and that complexity will morph
into church-like hymns. Don’t like hymns?  No problem. A few minutes later you’ll be immersed in a whirling dervish of cascading piano notes or a quiet back-and-forth conversation between piano and Indian flute. Next minute you’ll discover a familiar blues phrase or a bebop quote. Moods, tempos, solos, rhythms and textures are constantly in flux as Futterman and Levin spontaneously create the sonic experience that is Infinite Dimensions. That’s the beauty of free improvisation and Futterman and Levin intuitively know how to react, inspire and cajole one another through the two pieces featured on this, their 15th recording as a duo. Drummer Steve Hirsh likes to describe himself as a “freed” drummer. In that same vein, Futterman and Levin are not free jazz musicians, they are “freed” musicians. Infinite Dimensions is an opportunity for you to be a “freed” listener, approaching the session with open ears, open mind and always remembering “if you don’t like what you hear, it will change in a minute.”

BOTTOM LINE: Put two master improvisers in a studio and let them go. Go is just what pianist Joel Futterman and saxophonist Ike Levin do on Infinite Dimensions. They go to places that have yet to be explored. They go to familiar territory. They go dark places. They go to joyous places. They go together. They go their separate ways. They go fast. They go slow. With no map to guide them, they go by instinct, creativity and passion.