released October 1, 1984

Right Down Your Alley
Ray Anderson / BassDrumBone

Side A

1 Tapajack 6'15"
(Ray Anderson, Raybone Music - BM[)
2 Right Down Your Alley 7'14"
(Ray Anderson, Raybone Music - BM[)
3 Portrait Of Mark Dresser 6'42"
(Ray Anderson, Raybone Music - BM[)

Side B

4 Stomping On Enigmas 5'02”
(Ray Anderson, Raybone Music - BM[)
5 Limbo 6'19"
(Mark Helias, Radio Legs Music - BMI)
6 Paucartambo 8'25"
(Gerry Hemingway, Nagual Music - BMI/GEMA)

BassDrumBone:

Mark Helias - bass
Gerry Hemingway - drums, steel drums
Ray Anderson - trombone, conga

Recorded February 3, 1984
Mixed February 22, 1984
at Classic Sound Studio, New York,
Engineer: David Baker
Mastered at PolyGram, Tribiano - Milano
Engineer: Gennaro Carone
Producer: Giovanni Bonandrini
Front Cover Photography: Andrew French
Back Cover Photography: Leonard Cadiente
Cover Art: Ted Eyes

Released in 1984 on Soul Note Records - SN 1087


If you've followed the various directions of new jazz with any regularity lately, chances are you've heard Ray Anderson ... but which Ray Anderson have you heard? In just a few year's time this Chicago-native's trombone playing has graced a remarkable range of mu­sical settings, from Anthony Braxton's thoroughly composed textural environments or high-energy improvised romps and reels to the funk-induced hijinks of Anderson's own Slickaphonics; from latin dance band jams to sensitive, intense trio interaction alongside Barry Altschul or Oahspe (with Gerry Hemingway and Mark Helias).
Thus it shouldn't shock you to hear that this album presents only a portion-though a potent portion at that-of Anderson's talents and interests. His stylistic flexibility goes hand-­in-hand with an adventurous technical expertise. As one of the post-WWII trombonists (others include Roswell Rudd, Albert Mangelsdorf, Paul Rutherford, George Lewis, and Gunter Christmann) who have helped further the liberation of the slide horn, he's adapted devices previously pioneered by the instrument' s jazz fathers, and made them his own. As a result (to quote from my own 1980 notes) he can laze a loose-limbed legato line with the in­souciance of a Vic Dickenson or provide locomotive tailgaiting with the urgency of a Kid Ory, delve into deft vocalization with the fluency of a Mangelsdorff, bend notes bluesily a la Lawrence Brown, or offer a sense of humor amid stuttering articulation reminiscent of Dicky Wells.

All of these traits are brought to service in this program, which is more than just a cata­log of hip licks or easy references to past masters. Throughout Anderson avoids the fami­liar, and in so doing challenges not only his own considerable technique, and that of his co­horts, but also our musical conditioning and responses, in an attempt to "make it new." In fact, the title tune exemplifies this, highlighting not only some free blowing of Rudd-y complex­ion and expressionistic sound effects, but also utilizing quick shifting modulations of mood, of line, of rhythmic impetus, which are matched by the empathetic intuitions of per­cussionist Gerry Hemingway and bassist Mark Helias.
As a reincarnation of the trio Oahspe, Anderson, Hemingway, and Helias work well se­parately and together. Hemingway finds an amazing amount of sounds, colors, and tim­bres in a "standard" drum kit, while Helias' bass anchors the ensemble when the other two are at their most tonally extravagant, and contrasts this with expressive flights of his own when the occasion allows. Limbo is a good example of their elaborate and yet natural inter­action; a floating landscape of emotional alienation, Anderson's ambiguity and quizzical nature in solo finds solace in Helias' straightforward, songlike solo. Hemingway, mean­while, supports the two with sensitive drips of percussion that punctuate without drawing attention from their statements.

Indicative of their willingness to shift roles within the trio's responsibilities (reminiscent of another free trio, Air), Hemingway's composition Paucartambo features Anderson on supportive congas while Helias' bouncing, buoyant bass and Hemingway's lilting steel drums lead the way. When Anderson does enter on trombone, halfway into the track, his solo is high-spirited and true to the ambiance of the music.

The remainder of the music on Right Down Y our Alley is similarly suited to the trio' s en­gaging temperaments. Tapajack (dedicated to Anderson's wife, a dancer) finds Heming­way imitating a sort of tap time-step as the trombonist plunges ahead, snorting, growling, and sliding like Sandman Sims. Stompin On Enigmas, an especially apt title, includes epi­sodes of elliptical design, with Hemingway's pointillistic percussion, Anderson's alterna­tingly wry and aggressive overblowing, and Helias' moody foundation. Finally, Portrait Of Mark Dresser (a friend of Anderson's, and bassist on the trombonist's last album, Harrisburg Half Life) recasts what almost sounds like a Hey Jude paraphrase into a dirge­like march before a bit of Second Lining, including slapped bass, backbeat drums, comic vocal interjections, and tailgaiting 'bone. The ironic use of New Orleans material and the trio's push/pull sensibility again brings to mind Air, in a favorable light.

Tongue-in-horn or tongue-in-cheek, Ray Anderson creates intriguing, entertaining mu­sic. Check it out.

Art Lange