Playing Through the Music of Bob Dylan

Jewels and Binoculars @ An Die Musik, Baltimore, MD
Saturday, May 3, 2008

Michael Moore: clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, melodica
Lindsey Horner: bass
Michael Vatcher: drums, percussion

Michael Vatcher brings a light touch to the drum kit. With brushes, chop sticks, bare hands, small metal sticks - some quite reverberant - and an assortment of custom objects Vatcher plays within a tasteful universe of percussive sound that ripples with variation. Add in his deep sense of musicianship and you have an ideal collaborator for building sonic jewels.

Jewels and Binoculars takes the music of Bob Dylan and turns it into beautifully lyrical pieces for a trio of improvisers. Sometimes turning the poetic melodies into chamber works or settling into the steady swing of a jazz standard. The balance between playful creativity and respect for the source of this music never dissolving into a showy cleverness or rigid tribute. Each piece finding a formal shape that develops and builds with organic shifts in texture from all three players. The inspiration flowing through this music gently prods at my relative unfamiliarity with the music of Bob Dylan.