Dr. Mint: Visions and Nightmares

"Dr. Mint (an acronym formed from the first letter of each member's last name) is a fledgling quintet of young West Coast improvisers. Executing a pair of spontaneously composed long-form suites with the assurance of seasoned veterans, these twenty-somethings conjure a testosterone fueled fever dream on Visions and Nightmares. Caterwauling horns, scorching metallic guitar and a thrashing prog-metal rhythm section alternates bone-crushing intensity with introspective passages and dark cinematic ambiance.
“ Apocalyptica” and the titular suite were both recorded live in the studio, in a single unedited take. An endlessly fluctuating web of throbbing bass ostinatos, churning guitar riffs and pneumatic vamps serve as the foundation for free-wheeling excursions. Brief interludes offer shadowy atmospherics that eschew traditional strategies, unfolding with fluid, rubato pacing.

With unswerving focus and expansive vision, the quintet demonstrates keen interplay and adroit improvisational skills. The unofficial leader, trumpeter Daniel Rosenbloom recently released his debut album, the highly regarded Bloodier, Mean Son (Nine Winds, 2006). Drummer Caleb Dolister studied at the University of Nevada, boasting a lengthy list of sideman gigs. Saxophonist Gavin Templeton, guitarist Alex Noice and bassist Sam Minaie are all 2008 CalArts graduates.

Revealing impressive listening skills and an affable rapport, the quintet navigates abrupt shifts in tempo, timing and dynamics. Alex Noice's howling acidic guitar spurs the rhythm section into a bracing clip on “Fire Flight.” Kicking into overdrive, they unleash a blitzkrieg of astonishing aural violence before seamlessly downshifting into a bruising cadence.

Providing supportive accompaniment to each other on “Chasing Dreams,” the clarion horns of Daniel Rosenbloom and Gavin Templeton spar with vigorous intensity on “Duel in The Deep.” With vivacious brio, Templeton's circuitous alto on “Fire Flight” mirrors Rosenbloom's fractious trumpet on “Dance For The Fire Reign.”

Sam Minaie and Caleb Dolister augment primal rock rhythms with jazzy elan and a nuanced touch. Demonstrating dynamic versatility, they wax nostalgic on “Waiting...,” while Minaie offers a supple, melodic bass solo on “Soma,” with Dolister providing sensitive accompaniment.

Dr. Mint present a thoroughly modern view of jazz informed, but not limited by, a dark and sometimes menacing future. Visions and Nightmares is an impressive debut recording, regardless of style or genre."

--Troy Collins, AllAboutJazz.com

DR. MINT - Visions and Nightmares (pfMentum 049; USA) Featuring Daniel Rosenboom - trumpet and piccolo trumpet; Gavin Templeton - alto sax; Alex Noice - electric, guitar and sampling; Sam Minaie - electric, bass and effect loops; Caleb Dolister - drum set. Nope, I must admit that I haven't heard any of the members this quintet before hearing this disc. Since I have enjoyed everything I've heard on the LA-based pfMentum label, I was eager to hear this disc. 'Visions and Nightmares' is broken into two suites, one is self-titled and the other is "Apocalytica". "Visions and Nightmares" opens spaciously with drifting sounds. By the second part, "Gathering," the quintet is jamming with the two horns sailing on top of the strong twisted groove. Alto saxist, Gavin Templeton, takes the first solo and sounds great burning over the slamming rhythm team with Alex Noice's sly electric guitar. Alex then takes a great, fast fusion-like guitar solo that is hard to beat and over-the-top! Trumpeter, Daniel Roseboom, takes an impressive, soaring solo on "Duel in the Deep" while the rest of the band rocks hard. Dr. Mint sounds as if they have been playing together for a while as they move from one section to another often seamlessly. On "Soma," their electric bassist takes an impressive solo while the drummer builds the groove below. The band gets into a great 70's like jazz/rock groove with great playing from each member with a round of smokin' solos from the guitar (Holdsworth-like but heavier) plus the trumpet and sax together swirling powerfully around one another. If I didn't know better, I would've thought that this was some long-lost progressive gem from the late-seventies. But we do know better and this is still a gem today so let's not let it be lost or unrecognized. Buy it direct, buy it collect, but please buy it today!

- BLG, DowntownMusicGallery.com

Broken into two parts “Visions and Nightmares” and “Apocalyptica,” the West Coast-based aggregation’s music is all improvised. And as the brief liners disclose, this outing signifies their inaugural meeting, which features an assortment of an acoustic-electric driven avant/jazz-rock, executed with a noticeable degree of raw firepower. Here, electric guitarist Alex Noice shreds metal into tiny fragments amid the dual horn attack’s conveyance of the jazz element, over the top. In some instances, it would seem that the ensemble had worked out some of these motifs in advance, but the music was performed on-the-fly during the course of two consecutive takes.

The quintet’s muse is rooted in an evolutionary framework, abetted with stark contrasts via heated opuses marked with soaring solo spots and thematic expansion. The artists offer a cohesive and highly listenable program that teeters along the borders of free-form jazz and ballsy, off kilter rock. It’s a sojourn that should overwhelmingly whet the appetites of progressive-jazz/rock aficionados. The music is fresh and invigorating, whereas the musicians go for the proverbial jugular throughout. A charismatic endeavor, indeed...

- Glenn Astarita, http://www.ejazznews.com/

Sometimes an album comes along that really surprises you. pfMentum is a jazz-orientated label which has regularly appeared here. MR MiNT Visions and Nightmares (pfcd49) arrived, identified as a one take, no edit recording of five people (whose initials are capitalised in the name) on drums, bass, guitar, sax and trumpet. The mind thinks groovy or edgy is the norm for this sort of ensemble. But what we get is closer to rock - in fact it was King Crimson - both the first incarnation and Larks Tongue in Aspic that came to mind while listening to this.

The album is broken into two suites, which were each recorded in a single take, with further subdivisions for ease of listening based on changes in the music. A few general points before diving into this maelstrom

* These are people who can actually play - rather than being interested in squeezing noises out of their instruments.
* They have a great understanding of dynamics and have structured these pieces amazingly well, and have allowed the 'correct' balance of instruments take the running
* At heart this is rock to me - the drumming is full on percussive and the guitar solos burn
* The bedrock is the rhythm supplied by the drum and bass - I may not mention them much as we go through, but they are the driving force and a constant throughout the changes

The first piece is called Visions and Nightmares and opens with First light, a slowly emerging bass, some light guitar and bell-like percussion, with a little squonky sax. This builds through Gathering with more wind, some guitar and then a wind duo through to a long balanced group explosion in Fire flight. Here a lovely sax solo slips into a burning guitar piece and then a group, especially wind, crescendo that is let down into a soft bass solo. As this runs though into Submerge gentle trumpet and then sax provide a lacunae of quiet before a second explosion in Duel in the deep. The duel is between the wind, getting very wild before the guitar rings in again to take us into another blazing solo. The balance is restored with Breach where subtle sax and slow bass wevae around a cycling percussion and a hypnotic scrunching noise - the first obvious tape effect, which sounds like someone trudging through gravel. Some long held tones appear before Waiting which starts with fast percussion and then gives way to some brass repeated riffs before a fade. A nice surprise as with a set like this you might expect a big bang conclusion. What reminded me of Crimson? The intensity, the rhythms, the changes, the sax sound, the guitar - not fripplike but similarly powerful. This piece got my blood pumping.

And straight into Apocalyptica, and my one complaint about this album. These are two separate works that need to be absorbed individually. A short break between the 2 suites would allow a much more considered listening. OK you can turn it off, pause, whatever - but I think the experience would have been improved by a short break (see my review of Jeffrey Roden for more on this issue).
Prophecy is a short burst of group noise to kick things off before a bass solo, with a bit of guitar support and a touch of percussion (Soma) and there is perhaps more of a jazz feel. In Chasing dreams the brass joins the others, blowing long tones, building into a sax solo, segueing into a trumpet solo and then a melodically driven band excursion. The excitement eases to the rhythm unit and a percussion solo at the start of Rift - into which the guitar sidles and the hits a fiery wild solo, joined by the brass to burn some more before again dropping back to rhythm and choppy guitar. The brass come to the fore again in Dance of the fire reign, initially with some blowy noises, then squalling and puttering into a mix of solos and duets, building until the sax slithers though with the drum and bass into The horseman rides. Here sax and trumpet exchange parallel smooth lines, with some guitar trills that together with some long sax lines, emerges from a group blow into a very KC/Fripp like solo as the wind flutters around. A Wasteland shows us another of the eletronica-loops as a dislocated space of gentle sounds, subtleties provides a springboard into the final Summon of the shadow sun. Another jazzy brass period builds, sirens playing to match the trumpet, out of which another huge guitar solo leverages a group crescendo whose climax breaths into the silence.

An amazing album - each listening has emphasised it's strength to me, and provided more highlights. One hell of an ride.
(OK, enough of the KC comparison - but this makes me think what they could have been if the Red era continued with some influence from the first. And am I seeing too much in Dance for the fire reign as being a composite of Return of the fire witch and The dance of the puppets from In the court? Or Summon the shadow sun as relating to the line 'summon back the fire witch'? - probably. Let alone the fact they don't name check KC on their myspace page, and there aren't any vocals...)