Kevin Norton's Bauhaus Quintet

Did you know that French surrealists introduced the game 'Cadavre Exquis' into literature? Each player adds words and phrases to a sheet of paper without seeing the rest of the sentence. It gives rise to the oddest of word combinations. Kevin Norton sees parallels with his way of composing. The unexpected element lies in the contribution made by the improvising soloist, which clashes with the forms and tones of the compositions. The musicians take each other on an outing and leave any form of chauvinism behind them. So no shows of strength, just instructive trips. Lindberg is a born musician, a clear, perfectly timed bass-player who experiences no technical obstacles. Malaby makes an emphatic mark on the music. Not with cheap showmanship, but by building up deliberate solos to painfully beautiful highlights. Ballou's trumpet playing is fluent and exceptionally tasteful. Both open and muted, he is the master of the musical situation. Sanchez sets out ideal chord progressions that raise explorations within them to a higher plane. Norton makes the group sound like a ticking mechanism that comes slowly into motion or increasingly relaxes. You can fill in the pictures for yourself as you listen.