Hussain-Brooks Quartet's Kaleidoscope of Sound
Philip Elwood, Chronicle Jazz Critic
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
©2001 San Francisco Chronicle

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/13/DD193619.DTL

The instrumental sounds of the Zakir Hussain-George Brooks quartet -- tablas, saxophone, bass and mandolin -- appeared as an audio response to the sun's kaleidoscopic rays as they filtered through the tinted skylight at Bach Dancing and Dynamite's Sunday afternoon concert.

Hussain has long since expanded his traditional Indian tabla percussion technique into Western music's melodic and harmonic structures, enabling him to become a major figure in world music, both traditional and improvisational.

Working with Brooks, a colleague on many earlier ventures (currently on tenor and soprano saxes), Hussain also was joined Sunday by Kai Eckhart on both fretted and non-fretted electric bass, and Mike Marshall, who played mandolin, guitar and the large mandola cello.

The tapestry of musical sounds created by this restless, ever-shifting ensemble of probing, improvising instrumentalists is often too dense for the ear to fully absorb. Eckhart's sensitive bass lines are one moment a subtle throb (shades of Jaco Pastorius), next a long descending "zoom" the length of a string, or a powerful melody. Brooks, while sometimes soloing, more often works in duet with any one of the others.

Having played bluegrass, jazz, klezmer, country, blues, swing and in all manner of rock and folk-rock groups, Marshall can adjust to any mood his compeers suggest.

Edkart often alludes to viola sounds, Brooks strums the piano strings and honks his sax like Hussain's "thump" on a table head, and Hussain, seated on a carpet, plays whole melodic choruses with one hand on one tabla, using another as accompaniment, varying pitch, meter and dynamics.

Among the most memorable numbers were the mournful blues "Jaki" (for Brooks' late mentor, Jaki Byard) and the particularly informal, experimental "Outer Sea," where all the cats joined in the merriment.

Most of the group's selections, semi-scored, are strongly melodic -- often of Indian extraction. However, there are blues lines, droning themes, complex rhythmic displays and more excitement than a listener can absorb.

Jazz was once defined as ""the sound of surprise'' … the Hussain-Brooks Quartet certainly fits that category.

E-mail Philip Elwood at pelwood@sfchronicle.com.

©2001 San Francisco Chronicle