The great thing about doing CD reviews is that you get to hear a lot of music. And some of that music comes from rather unusual sections of the Galaxy. Through the years I’ve tried to listen to a wide variety of music and encouraged others to do so as well. While I may not share the same fondness for each style, I consider myself lucky to at least be exposed to new things. It was with this eagerness that I awaited the new 3-CD compilation from Ut Gret entitled Recent Fossils.

I don’t usually lift from band websites but in this case I’m going to make an acceptation, because they’ve encapsulated the band history so succinctly: “Ut Gret are a musical group from Louisville, Kentucky. They play a style which many people find hard to define. They use the term 'pan-idiomatic' meaning spanning many styles & genres. Their sound combines elements of jazz, rock, folk, free-improvisation, experimental musical instruments, modern 'classical' music and many world music traditions. The members play guitar/bass, saxophones/flutes, clarinets/saxophones, keyboards/vibraphone/trumpet and drums/bass/percussion. They will all play other instruments as requested and/or required and may even be heard to sing on the rare occasion that it is desirable or unavoidable.” That being said I still wasn’t entirely ready for what I was about to hear.

The 25-Anniversary 3-disc box set Recent Fossils features material from 2002, and there are 3 different over arching approaches. Disc 1 has 18 tracks featuring over a dozen different musicians from the Louisville area. The tracks are anywhere from one-to-seven minutes in length. Each piece is composed however the music is very organic, very acoustic and still very spontaneous. While traditional instruments appear in various tracks, they are surrounded by a host of other-worldly sounds from things like; Gamelan, Sycamore Sitar, Tamboura, Bowed Berimbau, Sruti Boxes, Gambang, South Indian Flute and too many others to mention. The feel of these pieces is one of mostly pastoral space. Once in a while a piece will build in intensity, but because of the natural sounds it never seems to be over-bearing. This is music of the earth, very textured and very grounded. Disc 2 is all about the band’s improvisational skills. Sitting in the studio and working off a riff or building on a theme. These tracks are generally longer, anywhere from seven-to-twelve minutes. And while there are still lots of softer moments there are also many more jazzy sections, dripping with intensity. Some of these tracks whip-around in styles amazingly quickly, going from jazz to rock and back to total avant-garde improvisation. The musical connection between the players really comes to the surface here. Disc 3 is a live reworking of a composition by Terry Riley entitled “In C.” The music here is built on a minimalist theme that weaves in and out of different instrumental emphasis for over sixty-minutes. Whew!

Ut Gret’s Recent Fossils won’t be to everyone’s liking. It is challenging music in its own way. Some might dismiss some of it as being a little too “new-agey” for their musical tastes but clearly the musicianship and style take this music out of that category. Others may feel it’s simply too avant-garde for their ears to absorb. Its true Ut Gret push the musical envelope in all directions but there are still many familiar musical touchstones to balance their musical adventurousness. While not my favorite cup-of-tea, the music here is a fascinating listen. The level of skill involved to pull this off is evident and fans of the more experimental side of the progressive genre will find a lot to appreciate on these 3-dics.

Review by Jerry Lucky
July 19, 2007