Joe Morris Ensemble - Elsewhere (CD)

All Music Guide

This energetic quartet session features Joe Morris with some of his closest associates: pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William Parker, and drummer Whit Dickey. They start off intensely with the churning full-ensemble improv of "Plexus." Morris then begins the title track alone; Parker joins with busy low-register arco and later has a nice duo exchange with Dickey, about seven minutes in. "Cirrus," the shortest piece, introduces a slower, more spacious concept. The lyrical "Violet" is calmer still; Morris begins alone once more and Dickey enters with mallets, creating a wistful ambience. Parker makes a brief unaccompanied statement just before the final restatement of the theme. Morris and Parker introduce the relatively brief "Mind's Eye" with some fast, playful dialogue that soon gets filled out by piano and drums, setting the stage for the epic finale, "Rotunda." Morris is highly compelling throughout, both in terms of technique and sonic creation.

- David R. Adler, All Music Guide