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Arts & Entertainment Preview - July 1998 B Y   B O B   B L U M E N T H A L   &   C H A R L E S   M.   Y O U N G Contemplation in Rhythm Leon Parker The late and legendary jazz drummer Art Blakey used to convene percussion jam sessions -- recorded on Orgy in Rhythm and other albums -- as a change of pace from his usual small-band forays. Leon Parker is choosing similar drum-dominated programs as his chef d'oeuvre. The young drummer has been an underground influence on his generation of jazz musicians for nearly a decade, with a lean and infectious rhythmic approach that is usually realized on a minimalist set of one snare drum, a bass drum, and a cymbal. On his own recordings Parker's music is even leaner, with more international touches than his sideman work. Awakening (Columbia), his third album, is his sparest and most exotic to date. Focusing on such instruments as congas, marimba, gong, caxixi, and ashiko (and in two instances drumming patterns on the piano), Parker puts the beat at the center of his intimate compositions, producing contemplative episodes that have the hypnotic effect of ambient music yet swing much harder. Adding texture and their own gentle passion are Steve Wilson and Sam Newsome, two of the pithier young saxophone voices, and Adam Cruz, whose work on steel pan and bell reveals a sensitivity akin to Parker's. Cruz and Parker will jointly lead a group at Sweet Basil, in Greenwich Village (August 25-30). Parker can also be heard playing solo at the Edmonton Jazz Festival (June 27) and applying his stripped-down swing in the pianist Jacky Terrasson's trio at Jazzfest Caramoor, in Katonah, New York (August 1), and at Manhattan's Blue Note (August 18-23). --B.B. The Demon From Detroit James Carter and his latest release The common style among young saxophonists, especially those enthralled by John Coltrane's example, is to play macho and act humble. James Carter, a young virtuoso from Detroit, has loads of muscle in his music without much reference to Coltrane, while his carriage recalls Muhammad Ali in his "I am the greatest" prime. Confidence is hardly all that sets Carter apart, however; he can play all of the saxophone family and bass clarinet with absolute command, and he pays homage to swing-era legends like Ben Webster and Don Byas with the same commitment that marks his explorations of jazz's outer limits. In Carterian Fashion (Atlantic) adds a dash of restraint to Carter's typically combustible mixture and avoids his occasional sin of trying to play everything he knows in every solo. The mood is extroverted and soulful, with roadhouse riffs from an expanded version of his longstanding quartet, which includes Carter's sidekick Craig Taborn; a pair of spirituals featuring Henry Butler; and two more-mainstream titles on which Carter joins Cyrus Chestnut's trio. Taborn, Butler, and Chestnut, all pianists by trade, are each heard on organ, and they bring a welcome lack of flash to the potentially overpowering instrument that sets the scene for Carter's rousing displays on soprano, tenor, and baritone saxes and bass clarinet. Carter's working band should turn in one of its usual show-stopping sets at the Montreal Jazz Festival on July 9. --B.B. Swedish Metal Drain S.T.H.: Good Mourning, America Drain S.T.H. released the best metal album of 1997, Horror Wrestling, inspiring twenty fan-concocted Web sites and selling about 60,000 units, which was quite good when you consider that their record company (The Enclave) was going out of business. After some contract maneuvering they are now signed with Mercury, which is re-releasing Horror Wrestling with three new cuts, thus making it, in all likelihood, the best metal album of 1998. It will restore your desire to declare your misery to an indifferent universe at really, really earsplitting volume. Four women from Sweden who understand melodic hooks and how to make a guitar roar properly (two qualities that rarely appear in the same band simultaneously), Drain S.T.H. somehow turn their societal alienation and metaphysical despair into something quite liberating -- if you happen to enjoy mid-tempo, mournful, head-banging, grinding undulation. For those who prefer to do their mid-tempo, mournful, head-banging, grinding undulation in large groups, thus achieving a more complete Dionysian blowout of their brain synapses, the band will be touring through the fall. Watch for headlining gigs in small clubs. Watch for them to open for Megadeth and Monster Magnet (whose recent Powertrip, on A&M, is pretty monstrous too) in larger venues. And in very large venues watch for them doing the occasional gig amid their many metallic siblings filling the bill for Ozzfest '98 and the Warped tour. Finally, watch for their second album in January. --C.M.Y. Bob Blumenthal is a jazz critic for The Boston Globe. Charles M. Young reviews popular music for Playboy, Musician, and other publications. Go to ... Copyright © 1998 by The Atlantic Monthly Company. All rights reserved.