Handling the Moment is the debut recording of Matt Lavelle’s quartet, and except for CIMP regular Lou Grassi, all these players were previously unknown to me. Lavelle is a New York-based trumpeter now in his early 30s who’s worked with musicians such as Sabir Mateen and Daniel Carter. He’s not shy about his primary influence on the instrument: concerning his composition “Roy Campbell,” he writes that it “is a dedication to where trumpet history currently resides – the most original trumpet in the last 30 years.” (Oh really?) Saxophonist Ras Moshe is in effect the band’s co-leader, contributing most of the compositions and contributing some suitably unpolished and bludgeoning tenor and occasionally (despite the sleevenotes’ silence on the matter) alto.

Given the instrumentation, it’s no surprise that the idiom here often harks back to Ornette Coleman’s music: the influence is particularly noticeable in Moshe’s fanfare-like compositions. A couple numbers essay a medium-tempo groove, even if that’s not necessarily where they stay: “Amadou’s Passage,” for instance, begins with a two-chord riff and then strays into more outside territory, while “Roy Campbell” is an elaborately dissonant blues which becomes a trumpet-effects showcase for Lavelle. Neither Lavelle nor Moshe is an especially pointed improvisor, tending to wander off into voluble histrionics, but pithiness is not what this music is about anyway. Lavelle’s switch to pocket trumpet on “The 5 Faces” was a misstep (his tiny sound on the horn can barely contend with Grassi’s drums), and he makes no special impression as a bass clarinetist on “Chant 1” and “2”; but on his regular trumpet he sounds effective enough, turning in some heated, buzzing solos.

An honest enough effort with a laudable emphasis on emotional directness over polish, Handling the Moment nonetheless lacks the kind of individuality which would single it out from among countless other free-jazz releases. On its own terms it’s a decent if unexceptional calling-card for Lavelle and co.

Nate Dorward

Cadence, May 2003