Jeff Lederer’s, Brooklyn Blowhards, (Little (i) Music)
Lederer conglomerates music by the free jazz avatar Albert Ayler with sea shanties that survive from the whaling ship era when Herman Melville had Ahab pursuing Moby Dick. Influenced by Ayler’s haunting, raucous saxophone style, Lederer enlists ten longtime collaborators in combining his hero’s headlong improvisational style with traditional sea songs. Ayler’s “Bells†opens the collection, followed by “Haul Away Joe,†a shanty that sounds as if it could have been written by Ayler. Fellow tenor saxophonist Petr Cancura is part of the proceeding, along with cornetist and slide trumpeter Kirk Knuffke and accordionist Art Bailey. Brian Dye plays blowsy trombone. Matt Wilson’s, Allison Miller’s and Stephen LaRosa’s percussion instruments include drums, ship’s bell, chum bucket and chain. Mary LaRose sings spiritedly on five tracks and ends the album reading a passage from Moby Dick. This unlikely project is a joy.