Back in the 1920s, surrealist artists Frida Khalo, Diego Rivera, and their contemporaries developed the artful game known as “Exquisite Corpse” (“beautiful body”). Each player contributes a word or phrase to a sentence –unknown to the rest, resulting in such odd statements as “The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine.” A similar process of collective improvisation is the mission of the jazz trio, Exquisite Corps: As described on the liner of their new, self-titled CD, each musician “contributes his own unique spontaneous, musical statements moods and impulses while responding to those of his band mates. This idea is extended to include a mixing of different times together which contrast with, complement or comment on each other.” Local jazz audiences will have an opportunity to hear how all this works musically when Exquisite Corps celebrates their CD release on December 6^th at the Artists Quarter in downtown St. Paul.

Exquisite Corps is the partnership of guitarist David Roos, bassist Jeff Brueske and drummer Eron Woods, all busy area musicians. David Roos has worn a few hats over his career—selling guitars at The Podium in Dinkytown, teaching and writing about jazz guitar and theory; and co-founding and performing with the Illicit Sextet, one of the hottest jazz ensembles around during the 1990s. An instructor at Bethel University, Jeff Brueske has played with local stars such as Dennis Spears, Tanner Taylor, Pete Whitman, Kevin Washington, and the late Bobby Peterson; with the ensembles Jazz is Now and Parisota Hot Club; and co-founded the Gypsy jazz ensemble Sidewalk Café. Eron Woods has performed with the Keith Nance Quartet, Swingchronicity, the Dean Brewington Quartet/Quintet, and Eugene Monnig and the Cadenza All-stars.

In naming their trio, the musicians decided to drop the “E” because “‘Exquisite Corpse’ sounds a little too much like a death metal band...” According to the liner notes, the repertoire is drawn “from a variety of sources as if scanning the FM dial while on a road trip across America. You might hear Thelonious Monk take Hank Williams down the Mississippi to strut in a New Orleans parade.” This fusion of tunes with divergent styles indeed reflects the original Exquisite Corpse art form, while the notion of scanning the radio dial is carried out even further. Notes Roos, “There's some radio noise between ‘Your Birds Feet’ and ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart.’ Some people thought it was a glitch! The idea is from when I used to drive between the Cities and Eau Claire, Wisconsin—I would lose the jazz station and, after some noise, would get a country station.” I have to admit that my initial reaction was to assume I was given a flawed CD! Apologies to the skilled folks at Fur Seal Studios!

Regarding the tune selections and original titles, Roos acknowledges an effort to play on the name, “Exquisite Corpse,” noting, “We try to use a lot of tunes whose titles include body parts…” Hence the recording includes Roos originals such as “A Change Is Afoot,” “Cross Eye,” “Four Head,” and covers of “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Nancy (With the Laughing Face).” And they aren’t above a little good old fashioned pun either, with the collective composition “Abra Cadavre” and Roos’ own “Your Bird’s Feet” (get it? “Yardbird Suite” revisited?).

Simply, this recording offers creative virtuosity as well as a challenge to the listener to pick up on the long list of musical puns and satire. After four or five hearings, I know I have yet missed at least half of the jokes, puzzles, and sly references throughout. The three-way collaboration on each tune (save the Roos’ exquisite, Jim Hall-ish solo reading of “I Should Care”) as well as the often humorous melding of original and standard elements provides the consistent thread from first to last track. In addition to their primary instruments, Brueske adds some eerie vocalization to “A Change is Afoot,” all three add vocals to “Abra Cadavre” (along with pals Joe Johnson and Eli Stone), and Roos throws in chords from the autoharp on a number of tracks. Woods provides a constant power source, from the thumpy, clangy energy on “A Change Is Afoot” that seems to move at a double-time pace relative to Brueske and Roos, to a clattering vamp on “Your Cheatin’ Heart” to a delicate web of gentle percussion on “Nancy (With the Laughing Face).” Playing a more assertive role than is typical for the bassist, Brueske has a featured solo on most tracks and often veers off in a melodic or rhythmic counterpoint to Roos (e.g., “Cross Eyed”, “Your Cheatin’ Heart”, “Nancy [With the Laughing Face]”).

Roos provides 4 tracks filled with fun and surprise. The opening “A Change is Afoot” introduces all that follows—a melody that is oddly familiar, Brueske’s vocalizing that serves as a bridge midway through the tune, introducing his own swinging bass solo. “Cross Eyed” owes much to Monk, a seeming hybrid of “Epistrophy” and “Criss Cross” that sends guitar and bass off in complementary directions in both melody and rhythm. The autoharp adds an occasional zinging sequence; Brueske keeps a fairly steady pulse while Woods mixes up tempos. “Your Bird’s Feet,” a musical pun on Parker’s classic, ends with the intended sounds of radio static. Just remember, this is not faulty engineering! “Four Head” sounds like another diversion from Charlie Parker, twisted in key and time. Guitar, bass, and autoharp trade off, the autoharp chords adding a magical, mysterious tone. The last minute of this longest track may not be intended as “radio noise” but rather conjures static from outer space, as odd reverbs from Roos and tingles and rattles from Woods make for an eerie ending.

Of the collective composition, “Abra Cadavre,” Roos notes that it “is based on a 20-beat cycle I learned while studying with Karl Berger (vibes player with Don Cherry). Eron came up with the name of the tune.” Starting with a drum solo, some odd sounds are added from guitar, percussion, and bass, at times evoking the sounds of folk instruments as well as other technologically derived voices. The vocalizations give it a spooky, voodoo magic vibe. Wisely, it is the shortest track—it’s fun but going beyond three minutes might get cloying. Or just too scary.

Four covers fill out the recording, although for the most part these tunes are as irreverent as the originals. Roos admits that “I wasn't sure I liked the [Hank Williams] tune, ‘Your Cheatin' Heart,’ but we found a way to make it work by mixing it up with the rhythm from Monk's ‘Bright Mississippi,’ which is a contrafact of ‘Sweet Georgia Brown,’ and then we blow on those changes.” Roos provides a single guitar line with a somewhat staggered rhythm over a buzzy bass. Once past the first chorus, there’s a definitively Monkish swing as Roos hits a faster pace over Brueske’s slow swagger and Woods’ clattering antics. Monk would have enjoyed the parody.

Roos’ solo track, the Sammy Cahn standard “I Should Care,” serves as a calming interlude among so many diversions. The Mancini/Mercer classic, “Days of Wine and Roses,” seems to start with a lick of “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” before Roos jumps into the theme atop a swinging bass and percussion, quickly moving into his improvisation with hints of Wes Montgomery and Grant Green. After another swinging bass solo from Brueske midway along, Roos falls back, giving Brueske pretty much a blank slate,with very muted comments from the other voices. There’s quick lick from “Here Comes the Bride” and I suspect there are many jokes here that I missed. The set closes on a more or less mainstream note with Jimmy VanHeusen’s “Nancy (With the Laughing Face).”

Exquisite Corps is one of those recordings that benefits from repeated listening as the relatively simple melodies hide many layers of musical games, much like the surrealists’ game that originated the name. Certainly the music can be enjoyed on a purely emotional level, but there is much fun in taking the journey as a sonic brain teaser. If not a change, certainly a lot of fun is “afoot” when the Exquisite Corps Jazz Trio celebrates its first release on December 6^th at the Artists Quarter!

The Artists Quarter is located at 408 St. Peter Street in downtown St. Paul; 651-292-1359 or www.artistsquarter.com. Sets begin at 9 pm. For more information about the Exquisite Corps Jazz Trio and CD ordering information, visit the band website at: xcorps1.tripod.com/

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