Fragile Network

This Frankfurtian tenor saxophonist continues his run of challenging solo albums, obviously digging the tuba, both as rhythm device and soloing foil. Lauer's 1992 Bluebells album featured US low-blower Bob Stewart, while this one finds Frenchman Michel Godard inducted as an equally important band member, his countryman Marc Ducret providing the guitar. Drums and bass come from Statesiders Gene Jackson and Anthony Cox, the latter also present on Lauer's 1995 Evidence disc. Neither composition or free-blowing improvisation lose out here, each selection perfectly poised between the two realms. Lauer is remarkable for the stamina and strength of his hard-toned solos, but that's not to say that he shirks the duties of emotional expression. The rest of the band gird their loins for the frequently staccato, after-Ornette funk themes, each piece welded into a stylistic whole, even though the composing duties are almost equally divided between the leader and Godard. Fittingly enough, the tuba solos stand proud beside Lauer's marathon outbursts, never neglecting the snuffling, truffle-hunting regions, but at times possessed of a trombonist's agility. During his "Ferma L'Ali", Godard solos on the serpent, a medieval bass horn that resounds with a unique timbre. Then he's chased away by a blurting Lauer soprano solo, which reaches hidden parts of the inner ear. --Martin Longley

Label: Unknown
Studio: Act
Released: 1999-06-01
Format: Audio CD