AS FAR AS DEATH

As Far As Death is the cross-generational debut of fire music
evangelist and saxophonist Paul Flaherty with double bassist
and composer Zach Rowden. The Connecticut natives forge an
album of dynamic free jazz interplay that also draws on imporous textures of contemporary music - an ecstatic reflection.
After a half century of blowing the alto and tenor saxes,
Flaherty's playing continues to molt and electrify. Whether
solo, or with collaborators (Joe McPhee, Chris Corsano, Bill
Nace, Daniel Carter, etc.), his blues-based, lyrical melodies anchor lung-bursting gallops.
Rowden - whether as Tongue Depressor (a string duo with
Henry Birdsey), in performance with cellist Leila Bordreuil, or
his own musique concr te constructions - balances harshness
and elegiac drones. His past releases resemble resolute exploration into acoustics and noise.
Together, Flaherty's monstrous howl is perfectly matched by
Rowden's subterranean pitched drone and glacial pace. Each
offers weeping lurches of tune, gasps of balladry and microtonal fields of interplay on five pieces. The side-long "Thrown
Shadows" is an epic passage of avant jazz vs minimalism, as
Rowden's low-register bowing offers a blackened landscape
for Flaherty's most mournful notes. Artwork by Chris Corsano.