Polytown Released 1994 Label: CMP Records Catalogue: CMP CD 1006 [ Reviewed September 2002 ]

Polytown is a jazz-rock instrumental album on the German modern jazz label CMP. The line-up is supposedly a mini super-group of:

David Torn - guitars
Mick Karn - fretless bass
Terry Bozzio - generally hitting things

They're all very competent musicians with good pedigrees; I'd read good things about the album so finally got around to buying it in 2001. It was recorded over a few weeks in 1993, worked out of studio improvisations. This could be a scary prospect but in fact turns out to be very musical. The tracks are of a good length allowing the group to explore without going into pointless solos. A typical track will feature a simple theme repeated by Karn on bass or Torn on guitar, while it is embroidered upon by the other two. To my ears it fits well in the Progressive music category as opposed to Jazz.

The thing that surprised me about this is how good Mick Karn is. I'd not really heard much of his stuff apart from in Japan. His fretless bass-playing is the key as it slips and slides around the music, somehow lubricating it. Torn uses his tricks to provide a variety of sounds ranging from subtle backdrops of swirling electronics to that familiar wailing solo of his. Bozzio is constantly interesting as he finds lots of different-sounding things to strike as well as his drum kit.  He is well forward in the mix and at times is the main focus of the music.  His style is very distinctive, and quite different from the stuff he did with the progressive group UK in the late 70's.  Something special happened when they got together in the studio, they worked beautifully together and produced a sum greater than the parts.  There's only one minor problem with the album, I always seem to find myself losing interest towards the end.  Listening again it turns out that the last tracks are just not as good as the rest; I had previously wondered if it was because the album was all too similar-sounding.

This is a demonstration quality recording as you would expect from the CMP label, which I look upon as more accessible version of ECM.  The bass is deep and the percussion is complete in all of its subtleties.  It even has Bob Ludwig crediting for mastering, he must be a busy man.  Since buying the album it's been one of my most-played.  I'd be interested to buy more of this sort of thing but there are an awful lot of these 'super-groups' out there, huge combinations of people working with each other.  They can't all be this good.  Note: If you like this then try Dark by Dark on the same label.

Tracks:
1.		Honey Sweating	5:45
2.		Palms For Lester	6:43
3.		Open Letter To The Heart Of Diaphora	4:36
4.		Bandaged By Dreams	6:53
5.		Warrior Horsemen Of The Spirit Thundering Over Hills Of Doubt To Place Of Hope	5:01
6.		Snail Hair Dune	9:01
7.		This Is The Abduction Scene	3:01
8.		Red Sleep	4:27
9.		Res Majuko	3:42
10.		City Of The Dead	3:30
		total time	53:18

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Copyright Steve Bachini