Detroit’s Brennan was involved in the New York loft scene both as bassist and saxophonist. In the the 1970’s he formed sonic openings under pressure. “Originally, I thought the way to go was to play free, but I wasn’t getting the sound I was intuiting that way.” he comments. “So I wrote more, pointing the textures and the improvisational possibilities somewhere else.” The results showed affinities with Henry Threadgill, Mingus and AACM, and the saxophonist later worked with the Gnawa musicians of Morocco, developing “metagroove oriented compositions.” The concept is illustrated here by “scissor bump” with its juxtaposed metres in two live sessions from Montréal and NYC’s Vision Festival. Hilliard Greene (bass), Newman Taylor Baker (drums) and Juma Santos Ayantola (percussion) realise an original project, in which Brennan’s personal, rather acrid alto tone is central. Whether it’s best served by CIMP’s purist, hi-fi philosophy, which leaves the recording dry and uninvolving, is debatable.

- Andy Hamilton, October 2004
http://www.thewire.co.uk

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