Souls Saved Hear:Big Satan

Title:   Souls Saved Hear

Label: Thirsty Ear

Genre: avant-garde jazz

Rating: 5 of 7

Big Satan is Tim Berne (alto saxophone), Marc Ducret (guitar), and Tom Rainey (drums). Souls Saved Hear is a pure collaboration of the three artists with no set leader. The result is the quality jazz you come to expect from Thirsty Ear. This particular album is avant-garde jazz though, so it is not as accessible to college radio as say DJ Spooky is. Throughout the album each of the trio continually try to out do the next, taking center stage only for brief moments before they have moved on to something completely different. The sax is the most prominent voice and demands to be heard throughout, the drums are relentless in style and pace, and the guitar is perfectly picked into articulated melodies that seem to work within the insanity. The songs continually fall apart, and then are instantaneously brought back into melody and rhythm. Number 1 is a prime example of this. Numbers 4 and 7 are probably the most accessible to radio play and number 9 mixes it up a bit with slicker production. Not everyone will “get” this, but nonetheless, it is a fine jazz album, so play.

Main Page