Keefe Jackson/Raoul van der Weide/Frank Rosaly - Live at Tanker (Kettlehole Records, 2024)

By Gary Chapin

Keefe Jackson (tenor and bass clarinet), Raoul Van Der Weide (bass cracklebox), and Frank Rosaly (drums) give us a live set of reed trio that feels like it reaches back to the roots of this kind of music and also seems amazingly present. In the moment. In the room.

The first tune, “Oh, time thy pyramids,” has an Archie Shepp at Impulse! feel, which is a great feel to have. With “Going and caught, together,” the trio moves into the skrikkity sound areas, where free is as free does. “Going and caught, together,” Starts—after an intro—with a bass clarinet section, flirtations with swing carry it on a story arc. “Cruel is kept close” starts in a rumbly, mysterious, suspenseful place, with arco bass, shimmering cymbals, and foreboding (at first) bass clarinet. A reflective melody comes in and it ends up being a sweet, gentle 2+ minutes. The set continues thus, coherent, absorbing, and intriguing.

How odd is it that a record like this can provoke nostalgia in me? Not that I’m nostalgic for this kind of music—there’s never been paucity of fantastic free jazz, which this record is—but I’m nostalgic for the first time I listened to Archie Shepp's Fire Music, or the time I found the Wildflowers trilogy of loft recordings, or saw Sam Rivers play live. I remember being downtown, in those small rooms, when the music was right there.

I don’t mean to lay these associations on Keefe, Raoul, or Frank. They aren’t at all accountable to my history with the music. But for me, with Live at Tanker being of that heritage, it comes up.

It’s a fantastic set, and it’s right there.