Sparkling Fresh

Recorded on a 1996 German tour, this live album features probably the best-balanced lineup of the Los Angeles quartet, with Steve Gaeta and Paul Lines forming the rhythm section behind Joe Baiza and Steve Moss. Balance and savvy are key concepts in the Universal Congress Of equation -- the band is skilled enough to negotiate tricky jazz themes by Ronald Shannon Jackson ("Small World"), Odean Pope ("Kyle's Theme"), and Henry Threadgill ("Bermuda Blues") here. The bandmembers are also smart enough to recognize the limits of their improvisational skills, avoiding self-indulgence by keeping the solos short and still pushing the music as far as they can -- and one shouldn't forget versatile enough to hear often-overlooked connections among styles and blend a blues feel and funk rhythm sense together with the jazz sensibility. Slower melodies that let them lock down and work over a groove, like "Bermuda Blues," the Baiza-Gaeta original "3 and 4," and Junior Walker's "Cleo's Mood" (with a good, spiky guitar solo), suit them best. Surprisingly, the vocal features stand out most on Sparkling Fresh. Baiza shines on the jazz-slanted, reflective "Uh Huh" and the should-be-a-generational-anthem "Marginal," with its War-like funk groove. Moss steps up front to trade singing and harmonica on the closer, "Mudman Blues," a straight blues change of pace. And "Mudman fixed up the ozone, too/Stuck it together with Superglue" is a pretty good candidate for the inspirational blues couplet list. "Freight Train" is rough around the edges, but then most everything they do is like that -- it's actually one of their chief appeals and one reason why the term punk jazz might fit them better than any other group. Sparkling Fresh doesn't really break any new ground or surpass the band's Enemy studio albums, but it's a nice, representative complement to the Universal Congress Of catalog and has plenty to offer. ~ Don Snowden