A Cloud Of Black Birds

Guitarist Joe Morris carved out a niche for himself in the ’90s by playing extremely clean but knotty lines that cut right through whatever else was going on around him without any need for distortion or aggression. In this quartet, he was joined by microtonal viola player Mat Maneri, bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Jerome Deupree to make music that zinged and soared, throbbed and bounced. They used brief but catchy unison melodies to launch collective flights that felt like free jazz combined with chamber music, like bebop and bluegrass swirled together like paint in a bucket or like flavors of ice cream melting together into something you’ve never tasted in your life.