Off the End

Guitarist Brandon Ross is one of the most intrepid and unpredictable sonic explorers of the 21st century. Having worked extensively with Oliver Lake, Wadada Leo Smith, Henry Threadgill, Cassandra Wilson and others, he currently plays atmospheric, dubby post-metal in Harriet Tubman; delivers intensely felt acoustic duo music alongside bassist Stomu Takeishi in For Living Lovers; and explores a psychedelic, droning version of Black string band music in Breath Of Air. On this album, he presents a live performance at Connecticut’s Firehouse 12 by his group Phantom Station, a constantly shifting pool of collaborators that on this occasion included cornet player Graham Haynes, keyboardist David Virelles, drummer JT Lewis (also a member of Harriet Tubman), and electronic musician/sound designer Hardedge. The seamless 65-minute performance unfolds like a dream, shifting from calm passages that feel like they’re being transformed into a dub remix in real time to climaxes that blur the line between fiery electric jazz and raw electronic noise. For much of its running time you’d be hard-pressed to point to any sound and say, “That was made by a guitar,” and that’s Brandon Ross’s music in a nutshell.