Rechtern/Zinman/Wang/Cook - Wakte Oglaka

Robert Iannapollo, Cadence Magazine

WAKTE OGLAKA features the Boston-based quartet of Mario Rechtern (rds), Eric Zinman (p), Jane Wang (b, vcl), and Laurence Cook (d, perc). It’s good to see the criminally underrecorded Cook in the drummer chair. He was there back in the late 1960s providing the drums for the groups of Paul Bley, Alan Silva, and others. He subsequently moved to Boston and sporadically recorded with people like Bill Dixon and Jemeel Moondoc.
Although his métier is more subtle than this disc suggests, he propels this group with all the power and energy needed for a Free Jazz ensemble. And the four tracks on this disc ((Infinity) =1 + X / (Infinity) - X = 1 / X = (Infinity) - 1 / God Love(s) The War. 75:54. recorded 11/29/07, Cambridge, MA) are undiluted and unapologetic Free Jazz. A comparison to vintage ESP releases isn’t out of order. Rechtern squeals, brays, and cries on tenor and soprano, Zinman’s piano is scattered and diffuse but effective, and Jane Wang (a frequent collaborator with Sabir Mateen) gives the music a strong bottom and also contributes the occasional wailing vocal. The tracks are long (the shortest is 13 seconds shy of 16 minutes) and occasionally long-winded but there are enough moments and extended passages here that are worth hearing. And it’s good to hear Cook in such amazing form.