Anyone who’s ever puzzled over the oddly altar-like mirrored globes that serve as the centerpiece of many a suburban garden will instantly be in on the joke that provided the title for trombonist Joe Fiedler’s Sacred Chrome Orb (Yellow Sound Music). While Fiedler attaches no particular significance to the name, it does represent a delight in the incongruous, a refreshingly skewed perspective, and an off-kilter sense of humor, all qualities that pervade the music of his unique, intensely expressive trio.

On their third CD, the Joe Fiedler Trio has developed an expansive language all their own. Fiedler is an inventive trombonist whose talents have found him founding the eccentric brass band Big Sackbut, working with visionary leaders Andrew Hill, Lee Konitz and Maria Schneider and avant-garde giants Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor; in big bands led by Satoko Fujii and Charles Tolliver; a member of the Captain Beefheart tribute band Fast and Bulbous; or accompanying pop stars like Jennifer Lopez and Wyclef Jean.

His compositions thus draw on a wealth of diverse sources and experiences, but nothing has been more inspiring, he insists, than his band mates themselves. In bassist John Hebert and drummer Michael Sarin, he has found two highly individual voices that meld into a chameleonic unit, able to morph from the airy to the explosive with supple, surprising grace.

The uncommon trombone/bass/drums line-up was inspired by similar trios led by Albert Mangelsdorff (to whom Fiedler paid tribute on the trio’s 2006 debut) and Ray Anderson. But despite surface similarities, Fiedler, Hebert and Sarin have evolved their own unmistakable slant on that tradition, which the leader was keen to showcase on this new release. “The trio has matured nicely,” Fiedler says, “and has something strong to say.”

Nowhere is the group’s cohesive strength more evident than on the title track. A tightly woven mesh of angular lines and stop-time rhythms, the tune’s urgent vitality demonstrates the trio’s ability to wrest emotion from complexity, each sharp turn and sudden lurch-striking sparks.

The piece was in part inspired by the use of similar dynamics by saxophonist/composer Bennie Wallace, Fiedler says. Many of the compositions on the album, in fact, took other musicians or styles as the leaping-off point for creation, though the links between inspiration and outcome are rendered virtually invisible by Fiedler’s original approach.

“I get into these listening phases and tunes come out of them,” Fiedler explains. “I’ll hear or feel something that just gives me a little nudge. If I played you the records, they wouldn’t sound anything alike, but one rhythm or shape or vibe will push me to sit down and write something weirdly related.”

Both “Ging Gong” and “Ethiopia” came from one such period, which Fiedler spent intently listening to Ethiopian pop singers. The stream of Fiedler’s creative consciousness can be traced to a high bass line that Hebert plays on the bridge of his instrument in “Ging Gong”, which Fiedler intended to approximate African thumb piano – an instrument not present on the pop records he was listening to at the time.

Similarly, the buoyant lyricism of “#11” was sparked by a recording of a Rachmaninoff cello sonata performed by Vladimir Horowitz and Mstislav Rostropovich at Carnegie Hall’s 85th anniversary; the ebullient “Priestish” by a Billy Harper tune that Fiedler performed while on tour with tuba player Bob Stewart’s quintet; and the shadow-tinged “Next Phase” was written mid-flight after listening to Andrew Hill.

The latter is also a showcase for Fiedler’s dramatic use of multiphonics. His approach advances the technique used by players from Mangelsdorff to Coltrane, freeing him to use harmonics and overtones pianistically. “I used a much more sophisticated approach to multiphonics this time around,” Fiedler says. “I see it as a major departure; it reminds me of the difference between Dixieland versus more modern jazz.”

Fiedler announces his bold take on multiphonics from the outset, entering the opening track, “Occult”, with a sound like a train whistle. The atmosphere that this striking sound creates is sustained throughout the ensuing six minutes, with both the leader and Hebert stretching out over Sarin’s simmering intensity.

As its title implies, the groove-heavy “Two Kooks” is an opportunity for the trio to embark on a more light-hearted excursion. “I felt like we needed to just swing and get funky on something,” Fiedler says, “ to do something fun and not as serious.”

On a more personal note, “Chicken” was named for the composer’s six-year-old daughter, though, as Fiedler admits, “it’s not really a kid tune. When I played it for her, she ran out of the room and buried her head in the sofa. I’m not sure what that means.”

Whatever it means for Fiedler’s young daughter, Sacred Chrome Orb is likely to provoke strong reactions in any listener, even if it doesn’t send them scrambling for the couch cushions.

CREDITS:

Produced by Michael Croiter, Joe Fiedler and Bill Sherman
Co-produced by Derek Heuzey

Recorded and mixed at Yellow Sound Lab, NYC
Mixed by Michael Croiter
Mastered by Michael Fossenkemper/Turtletone Mastering

Art Direction/Designer Asaf Shakham
Photography by Rob Cardillo

All compositions by Joe Fiedler (Joe Fiedler Music-BMI)

Special thanks to John and Michael for their amazing musical contributions to this project, to Bill and Michael for giving me this opportunity and for making it all possible, to Shari for all of her love and support, and a long overdue thank you to Conrad Herwig for all of his friendship, inspiration and generosity over the years.

For Cleo.

Ging Gong is respectfully dedicated to the memory of my mentor and dear friend, Randy Purcell.