Lonely Bears - Lonely Bears (99)

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1 Our Red Sea
2 Zugzwang
3 Eastern
4 Oka
5 The Freedom of the Wind
6 Trois Tambours de Abed
7 Canterbury Song
8 Sartre
9 The Alpes as We Knew Them
10 Chanson du Bonhomme
11 Alarums
12 ...and Excursions
13 Nana


This 1999 effort finds the Lonely Bears foursome navigating a forest of textural improvisation.

One might expect Bozzio, the most famous of the group, to take center stage, but the players are, in fact, on very equal footing throughout.

Coe's credited solely on saxes, but he also plays clarinet, bass clarinet, and, on "Trois Tambours de Abed," some sort of fife or recorder.

Burns sticks mainly to atmospheric, distorted wails and subtly placed arpeggios.

Hymas creates synth washes, startling electronic effects, and a few lovely acoustic piano moments.

And Bozzio takes an expansive, highly musical view of the drum set, sounding like both a drummer and a percussionist within the same song, sometimes within the same moment.

Hymas wrote the bulk of the material, but Coe contributes a beautiful soprano sax/piano duet called "Canterbury Song," and Bozzio delivers the frantically complex "Sartre."

The rest of the material is either collaborative or based on traditional songs. "...And Excursions," a duet for drums and acoustic piano, provides the clearest glimpse into Bozzio's improvisational concept.

The record takes a little while to get going, however: The first few tracks have a certain monotony. But stick with it and you'll likely warm to this group's electro-acoustic exotica.