Reviewed by Eric Saeger
The 2nd full-length from Williams/Roach-inspired jazz drummer Abadey isn’t a showcase for his drumming technique so much; what sticks out for me in that regard is a deep fetish for extended cymbal-splashing. His off-kilter, angular snare-shots go well enough with the (often Minus-like when it isn’t being, in general, 80s-throwback-ish) modal stuff on tap here, much of it improvised if I have any sort of intuition for this by now. My main quibble goes in tandem with the comment about his personal showcasing: Abadey was a bit too generous when it came down to the final mix, and he’s buried under the blorting, bleating atonal dust-devils tossed out by saxplayer Joe Ford, who most often comes off like a real talented dude running through warm-ups as opposed to working to cobble something listenable, but such is the nature of the improv beast, which is adamantly not my cup of morning Starbucks.
Grade: C+
