Free jazz can be dour, difficult stuff, which is why a player like Rob Brown is always a pleasure to hear: the airborne grace of his alto lights up even the darkest surroundings. The Big Picture, a studio recording made while Brown’s quartet was in Paris for the Sons d’Hiver festival, is fairly conservative by his standards: the tunes offer carefully worked-out heads that wouldn’t make a hard bopper blink, William Parker walks rather than bows, and Hamid Drake plays conventional kit rather than hand drums. Brown’s composing, like his alto, is bittersweet in flavour, and there’s a gently downbeat feeling to pieces like “Dawning,” “Wyoming Spring” (with its echoes of Mingus ballads like “Goodbye Porkpie Hat”) and “Blues Thicket.” Roy Campbell’s cool, lyrical trumpet pairs well with the leader, but the standout track here is the rocketing “Trio Unsprung” for just sax and rhythm: Brown traces arabesques in the air with Dolphyish abandon, Parker opts for a fluid walking-bass line rather different from his usual more deliberate tread, and Drake channels Ed Blackwell with his every move.

Nate Dorward

Cadence, August 2004