Scott Fields Ensemble – This That
By Andrew Duncan • Apr 14th, 2009 • Category: Jazz, ReviewsScott Fields Ensemble
This That
2001 – Accretions
Origin: Chicago
Style: Free Jazz
On this release, Scott Fields has whittled his “Ensemble” (where the Chicago native- turned Madison, Wisconsin resident calls each of his various collaborations the “Ensemble”) down to a trio: himself as guitarist with Vancouver’s Peggy Lee on cello and Dylan Van Der Schyff with the percussion.
With This That, the whole premise of this album flirts with the idea of what is considered improv and what is actual composed material. Fields performs flawlessly in the attempt that you cannot tell the difference between the two states of musicianship. But even with the blurred lines, you get a sense of structure within these pieces as the sonic architecture is very tight knit and space is given a sense of correlation within the songs.
Fields was influenced by the Art Ensemble of Chicago with the goal to make spontaneous music more controlled and This That is an album that obscures the senses as to what is and what isn’t, as well as what you think could and could not be in the musical stratosphere of free form. An even more electrified version of Derek Bailey (you really get that feeling later on in the album), Fields does what he can to the guitar to build a unique perspective as well as preserving a strong tonal quality to his work, although not quite as textured as Bailey was.
Often compared to Eric Dolphy as noted by both Carl Baugher of Cadence Magazine and Steve Goldstein of Midwest Jazz Magazine (http://www.accretions.com/artists/scott.asp), Fields builds a depth and field that not just compliments but contradicts the cello, skewing the level of reality. Sometimes fighting with one another for the forefront (“This Is This”), while other times playfully meandering between the two instruments and dancing up and down scales (“This Is That”), the three round up a unique conceptualization of the abstract that lies today as the outcast of the Accretions label as Fields has nothing to do with the Trummerflora Collective, but remains as one of Accretions strongest.
Cross-Reference: Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Derek Bailey, Eric Dolphy
Andrew Duncan is a journalist who has migrated to the forces of academia. He has written for various publications including Chord, Heckler, Readyset...Aesthetic, and a vast array of alternative press contributions. When not roaming the streets of Indianapolis, he is either addicted to KXCI, making music, or striving to watch every film listed on IMDB.
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