The subversive artists of the Extemporaneous Music Society are picking up where they left off their extraordinarily productive 2021. The January 1 release of Quartet, Vol. 1 on Mother Brain Records is another provocative missive in the collective’s bold overhaul of Kansas City’s improvised music scene.
The album’s intentionally jarring contents will be familiar to those who encountered a concert by Seth Andrew Davis (electric guitar/laptop/electronics), Kyle Hutchins (saxophones), Aaron Osborne (bass/electronics) and Evan Verploegh (drums/percussion) at Charlotte Street Foundation last July.
The anarchic opening segment of the 32-minute “Of Other Mirrors” may cause even the most intrepid listeners to flinch. The confrontational blaring, obnoxious bleating and insidious braying seems designed to repel all comers. There’s a method to their madness. While retaining a harsh edge, the subsequent quieter passages reveal the quartet’s attentive interplay.
Jazz-oriented listeners are likely to gravitate to the contributions of Hutchins. His Dolphy-esque playing provides an analog counterpoint to industrial grating on “Of Other Mirrors,” the glitchy futurism of “Under a Strange Legend” and the somber malevolence of “So Many Stars Take Care of Me.” Viva la revolución!