Bounce Off the Moon

Relatively new on the local scene, the trio JazZen blends world flutes (Bobb Fantauzzo), electric cello (Aaron Kerr) and drums (Derrin Pinto), creating a unique sound that is both holy and hip, primal and sophisticated. Their own description of their music -- “combining jazz vibes with Zen sensibilities… earth tones of Native America to the groove of the beatniks, evoking West Coast Cool and the spirit of Coltrane”—is spot on. Their first recording as a threesome, Bounce Off the Moon, should expand their visibility across the universe.

Jazz Zen originated as a duo of Rochester, NY native Bobb Fantauzzo and McKnight Composing Fellow Aaron Kerr; the pair released Explorations in 2008. In 2010, they added transplanted Los Angeles drummer Derrin Pinto, extending the soundscape even further, and captured now on Bounce Off the Moon.

Each musician brings his own impressive credentials to the mix: Bobb Fantauzzo discovered Native American flutes in 1998, and soon began blending the Native sound with American jazz. Bobb also performs with The Semi-Conductor Orchestra and The Intangibles, and serves as the facilitator of the Ten Thousand Lakes Flute Circle of the International Native American Flute Association (INAFA). On Bounce Off the Moon, he plays both Native American and Chinese flutes. A classically trained cellist with over 25 years of performing experience, Aaron Kerr has a degree in music composition and received a McKnight Composer Fellowship in 2006 for music from his solo recording, Arco 71. His bands include the Swallows and Sleeper Pins, which combined to create the music of Dissonant Creatures, released in 2009. In addition to JazZen, he joins forces with Tyson Allison to form Heavy Pedal Cello. Drummer Derrin Pinto was inspired early after hearing a live performance by Albert “Tootie Heath.” After studying and performing in southern California and attending graduate school, Derrin relocated to the Twin Cities, joining JazZen in 2010.  

Bounce Off the Moon

The 11 tracks of Bounce Off the Moon share common composers and common musical threads—the integration of an almost prayerful melodicism suggestive of Charles Lloyd with a more forward-thrusting, free-wheeling improvisational approach that echoes Coltrane, Davis, Shorter, and Coleman. Fantauzzo contributes five compositions; the trio arranges one each from Miles Davis and Mongo Santamaria and two from Wayne Shorter; the most extended tracks are two jointly composed and assembled by the trio. 

On the opening “Don’t Tell Lydia,” composer/flautist Fantauzzo immediately conjures the native spirit of Charles Lloyd. Pinto’s drums have a hollow resonance, while Kerr’s cello sounds much like the bass but brighter, his solo and walking evoking the great Ray Brown. Only the end of his solo reminds you that this is an electronic instrument. It’s a joyful piece with a hint of ancient tradition. “Solidarity”—also written by Fantauzzo—seems like an extension of “Lydia” or even a second stanza, swinging via walking cello, wandering flute and punctuating percussion. On the other hand, Fantuazzo’s “Longing for a Hero” is solemn with an almost funereal marching beat from Pinto and dark counter line from Kerr. Things take a blue turn on Fantauzzo’s “I’m Wearing White,” with desert bird calls meeting bebop as Kerr and Pinto offer the sort of support for Fantauzzo’s flute menagerie that allowed Coltrane and Davis to shine. The cello solo here is particularly swinging and filled with conversational twists; Fantauzzo and Pinto engage in an inspiring give-and-take dialogue. Fantauzzo’s bouncy “Bobbu BopBop” sounds like its title, with funky cello, pulsating percussion and whiney flute. This is playful music that generates visual images of cartoonish characters, a blend of sacred and profane. Kerr’s solo swings, saunters and bubbles.

The covers are ingenious. Miles Davis’s “Jean Pierre” is introduced by tandem cello and flute, while Pinto’s drums provide a rich, swaying pulse matched by Kerr; it’s a tribal ritual dance. “Afro Blue” (Mongo Santamaria) is similarly ceremonial, swinging a bit more than the usual rendition. Compared to saxophone, the flute here gives it more of a roots sound, more prayerful, as if dating back much farther than Coltrane. Kerr’s solo adds more reverence, Pinto’s percussion furthers the celebratory sonics. JazZen’s version of Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints” is the most haunting I’ve heard. Drums and cello move into the famed vamp with an acidic bite as Fantuazzo’s flutes leave only hollow footprints in blowing sand, Kerr adding layers of darkness. As if pulling Shorter out of an ancient well and airing it out in 21st century sunshine, the trio’s arrangement of “Nefertiti” never shakes that primitive tribal cry of the flute, yet the pulse and rhythm come from just down the street. 

Perhaps the band’s most inspired work comes on their collaborative compositions. The title track, with its beatnik groove and Fantauzzo lyrics, literally asks what would become of us if we fell off the face of the Earth?, while the closing “Pronóstico” most fully suggests a free improv session, each musician creating his own world with a thick tether to his cohorts. 

It’s intriguing to imagine the sounds of American musicians bouncing off the surface of the moon and back to our Earthbound ears, and JazZen is very convincing in their impressionistic suggestions that this bending of musical energy would splice together ancient traditions and modern experimentation. 

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