Hallelujah Oh Lord! Every second published article about Alabaster DePlume starts with either a) applied esotericism or b) something about God and drugs. So c) the so-called arts writer doesn’t even have to bother with old-fashioned jazz stereotypes to portray the »saxophone punk« as a pretty cool guy. It has what the yes-but-have-you-got-the-seventy-four-tracks-Coltrane-recorded-at-the-Vanguard faction lacks: namely pop. Even if only a few old Spex issues really know what it is, it’s certainly good. At least, that’s what all the remaining music editors, from Pitchfork to Die Zeit to the Ostheimer Zeitung, claim. And that’s right, because Alabaster DePlume’s soul-cleansing music always bops – and bops beautifully. On »Come With Fierce Grace«, this is no different than on his other albums. The keys on the saxophone clapper. The chain jingles around his neck. And I’m pretty sure there’s a little bonfire crackling somewhere. Because it warms so nicely from the inside out – just like the new album on International Anthem, which is definitely not a »collection of B-sides«, but a »body part« belonging to the previous album, from the session this »new phase« was compiled for.
Nels Cline
Consentrik Quartet
Blue Note