Although standalone releases, these two CDs are intended to be listened to as a pair... 9 is about the old days (1999); broken/circle is about moving forward (2000).

We must confess that we had not heard of mr. dorgon when these recordings showed up, but we figured anything that William was on couldn't be bad.   So we took a chance and here we are with some of the most soulful new sounds, duos or otherwise, to come along in a long time.  And, after some repeated listenings we have decided that what we like about these recordings is that mr. dorgon isn't trying to sound like a jazz man.  In fact, he's not.  Fans of the NYC alternative rock crowd will know his work far better than the average jazz listener, and that is precisely what makes this music so refreshing...dorgon didn't know he wasn't supposed to play this way with William.

dorgon told us that he wanted William on these recordings because he respected his playing and thought it would give William a chance to stretch.   Get that, William stretching.  Well he did it.  9 opens with an extended track, POG, that features dorgon and William moving ever so slowly through some very tasty melodic phrases that really set the stage for the rest of the CD.   BTBB features William walking an extended bass line like he rarely gets to do in his more heralded venues, and to our ears, just confirmed William as the strongest bass player working today. Hardcore (Brooklyn) displays William's arco work (the man has done some deep listening with Gorecky) under dorgon's hauntingly lonely phrasing.   9 closes out with a Nirvana cover, In Bloom, that is a fitting end to the century and this CD.

If 9 was looking back, then surely broken/circle is taking us into the next century.  Featuring nine short pieces...a metamorphism of sound, genre, and place.  We couldn't help but wonder if ol' dorgon was trying to capture the entire 21st century in 37+ minutes of sound clips.  Way more sonically unnerving than 9, broken/circle is best thought of as one/two man's vision of sound constructions, conceived in the abstract, stripped of form, rhythm, and meaning...only to be put back together again, without preconceptions.  The result is skewed and off center, but highly satisifying.

While not a prerequisite to be in this column, but equally as true as when we said last month, buy this music "to strike a blow against mediocrity in thought and homogenization in art."

--- The Drimala Crew

Artists:
dorgon, C-Melody Saxophone
William Parker, bass

Tracks on 9:
1.  POG                           13:26
2.  BTBB                            7:27
3.  Hardcore (Brooklyn)    11:12
4.  In Bloom                       5:43
Total Time 37:48

All compositions by dorgon except In Bloom which is a Nirvana cover after a fashion

Tracks on broken/circle
1.  i want a snack (v.1)   1:19
2.  perdido                     4:30
3.  duo                           4:01
4.  yer a fuckin' jerk        2:08
5.  trills                           6:45
6,  broken                      4:47
7.  i want a snack (v.2)   2:23
8.  lakshmital                  9:02
9.  twins/ghosts              2:51
Total Time  37:46

All compositions by dorgon except duo by dorgon and parker, perdido by Juan Tizol and lakshmital which is a traditional indian composition

dorgon's other releases include a Rats Live On No Evil Star with Laura Cromwell (Dim Sum Clip Job, God Is My Co-pilot, and other similar journeys) and IIII with his string quartet.  With any luck a couple of new releases will be out this spring.