Aktivavoco

Edge City Collective

A lot of surprises here, more than I could reasonably expect. The title piece makes me think of auctioneering as done by a Central Asian overtone vocalist, peppered by brass, most of this courtesy of Bart Miltenberger on trumpet and Devan Miller’s vocals. A bumper crop of other vocal tracks from Devan and three guest vocalists make this cd one to recommend to extended vocal technique listeners. Whooshy scifi electronics, kabuki and Amerindian vocals, smoky jazz from mid-century and a near-impossible grab bag of other musics all add up in ways that are fresh and daring and never forced or contrived. This Collective has freed themselves from the constraints of free improv-not a small accomplishment, to say the very least.

www.edgecitymusic.com

Richard Grooms