I wrote this review for jazzreview.com. Click here to read it on that site. You will have to scroll down some.

Assif Tsahar's Brass Reeds Ensemble The Hollow World (Hopscotch, 1999)
review by Micah Holmquist
May 24, 2000

Herb Robertson (trumpet),
Cuong Vu (trumpet),
Vincent Chancey (french horn),
Joe Daley (tuba),
Chris Jonas (soprano saxophone),
Rob Brown (alto saxophone),
Assif Tsahar (tenor saxophone),
Susie Ibarra (drums)

Don’t go into The Hollow World with too many preconceptions about what this disc will sound like. A quick glance at the personal for this session, which happened March 30 of last year, suggests that a chaotic free for all is in order. While this octet would be more than adept at just such a blow out, Assif Tsahar in fact leads his Brass Reed Ensemble to the creation of a sublime and very tender work.

The key to The Hollow World appears to be careful planning on the part of Tsahar, who wrote the five compositions appearing here. Putting all of these musicians in a room together and just letting them go at it might produce wonderful results but not these results. A good example of this is the title cut where, as Tsahar explains in the linear notes, ends with the three saxophonists playing in response to and against what is coming from the brass section. "The Tapestry of Dreams" opens the disc with the combination of jangling percussion from Susie Ibarra and an eerie melody from the trumpet of Herb Robertson and the french horn of Vincent Chancy. After a couple of minutes, Ibarra switches to the kit, or more precisely the toms, to play pattern that sounds like an upcoming storm and sets the stage for some wonderfully understated solos by trumpeter Cuong Vu and soprano saxophonist Chris Jonas. Not long after that comes a more forceful, though unquestionably melodic, duet from alto saxophonist Rob Brown and Tsahar on the tenor. Tsahar dedicates "Rainbow on my Table" to the great bassist William Parker and this tribute provides ample room for similarly well planned and equally well executed musical drifts.

The real highlight, however, is the five and a half minute long track "The Edge of Infinity," which sounds as if it were a nod to the now deceased trumpeter Lester Bowie. Tsahar does not mention Bowie’s name when talking about the piece in his notes but all of the elements that made the trumpeter’s solo work daring are here. The melody is beautiful and owes itself clearly to some African American spiritual that sounds so familiar but you just can’t place. At the same time, the music sounds as if it could come unglued at any moment. The players all sound as if they are just about to launch into the spontaneous energy music that listeners are likely to expect. That they never do serves to make the discipline more impressive and the tension that much greater. Another cut, "The Luminous Tree," features somewhat similar sounds but is thematically closer to the other tracks whereas "The Edge of Infinity" has mood that is unique on The Hollow World.

The principle fault with this release does not concern the music but rather packaging. The order of the tracks listed in the booklet and back cover differs from how they actually appear on the disc. But if you keep track times in mind, this shouldn’t be a problem and The Hollow World should provide plenty of listening enjoyment.

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