Tronzo/Graneli/Epstein
Crunch
Love Slave
I’m eating a cookie right now. It’s a fairly large cookie, and of the chocolate chip variety. You can consider this review a document of an experiment I have chosen to conduct. Which is better: Crunch, by David Tronzo (slide guitar), Peter Epstein (saxophones), and J.A. Graneli (basses), or a chocolate chip cookie? Since the subject of this review is the CD, I’ll test against the null hypothesis, and initially say that the cookie is better than the CD.
Trial #1: I am taking a bite of the cookie. Damn. That’s some good cookie, sweet, soft, buttery and gooey. I’m putting the CD on. Tronzo is an adept player, chiming in the melody, while Epstein soliloquies on top. “Cumulus” is a tune, and Graneli is doing a fine job of holding up the rhythmic end. In the name of science, I believe I’m going to have to conduct another trial.
Trial #2. I take another bite of cookie. That bite was not big enough to properly register, so I’m going to have another. Oh man, that’s yummy. But I must press on! “Thing #12” is an improvised piece, starting off quiet and nuanced, but rising in pace until we hear a duet between Epstein and Tronzo, punctuated by Graneli’s arco bowing. The musicians are all excellent at passing the soloist baton, and occasionally fall into clusters of group improvisations.
The results? I’m feeling a bit queasy after that cookie (it wasn’t my only one this afternoon), so I’ll have to say that Crunch is the definite winner here. However, I encourage you to conduct this experiment yourself, and compare results.
Love Slave Records, P.O. box # 162, 123 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215; http://www.lvslv.com
