Murmuration is wonderful chaos. From a meeting of five well-known improvisers that sounds like a live-in-the-studio recording, the album is outside and free, eschewing structure and form for openness and surprise.
During its initial moments in which fluke-mogul and Cartwright trade-off and intertwine violin and sax lines, there is a sparse grittiness on display. Hirsh joins on drums and Sewelson contributes baritone sax, while Cox employs cello. But rather than remaining jagged and fractured, this builds into an abstract and heady mix with each musician contributing to evolving constructs with few repetitions.
In contrast, Dream State – one of the highest points on the album – starts with Sewelson and Cox, with the latter switching to bass. This initial passage rapidly changes into a dense cacophony of sounds as the other three come in. Cartwright and fluke-mogul wail discordantly while Hirsh sets forth various staggered rhythms.
The remaining tracks land somewhere between these rough poles. But there are a few Easter eggs scattered throughout Murmuration, with one musician or another quoting snippets of well-known tunes here and there. Regardless, the album comes highly recommended to anyone seeking out the opposite of smooth jazz.
