Bruce Cale

With Dale Barlow, Roger Frampton and Phil Treloar he built forms tight enough to hold free flight: Rolling Thunder tears out at smoking speed, Bells stretches past eighteen minutes of ratcheting cymbal drama and sing-song bass, and quieter pieces still carry lyrical invention and real tenderness. He is a melodic bassist with drive, anchoring the band while the others cross-pollinate across him. Turned fully to the page, the same ear pairs woodwinds in bright open textures, lets cello and soprano meander through quasi-improvisational form, and paints Blue Mountains country in calm pastoral colour. Lydian harmony and a jazz player's sense of groove sit under the concert music without pastiche. What survives on these discs still sounds present-tense.