Approaching jazz from a wide scope, saxophonist John Tchicai launches into this compelling, whimsical and ultimately refreshing musical feast with his young seven-member band of jazz renegades, the Archetypes. The Afro-Danish Tchicai, based today in Davis, Calif., made a stir in New York city in the early '60s playing with such free spirits as Archie Shepp and Don Cherry before making his mark participating on John Coltrane's landmark "Ascension"-album. Here he effortlessly traverses from the funky to the free, blowing lyrical lines that bloom with edgy improvisational beauty throughout this eclectic collection of tunes informed by blues, rock and African influences. While there are a few soft spots in the mix (i.e., synth flavorings), overall the set is charged. Tchicai gets lots of room to explore on the soulful "Love Is Touching", the romping "Salt Lips City Blues", and the jaunty Latin-inflected "You Made Me Laugh (And Snot Came Out)". Meanwhile, guitarists Mark Oi and Michael Grandi put the sting into the proceedings and percussionist Basho Fujimoto keeps the rhythms percolating.

"When he moved from his native Copenhagen to New York City in 1962, Congolese-Danish saxophonist John Tchicai became a key player in the jazz avant-garde, recording with Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, John Coltrane (on Ascension), and others. While living in Davis, Calif., for the past four years, he has put together a young and empathetic band -two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, and percussion- that provides an experimental rock-fusion context for his explorations of free-jazz ideas. Tchicai, on saxes and bass clarinet, is the dominant force as both composer and improviser on this 70-minute CD, and he pulls the band along as it applies intriguing spacious textures, bleeding colors, and angular rhythms to his poetic musical vision."

"Afro-Danish saxophonist and bass clarinetist Tchicai moved to the Big Apple in the early '60s and immersed himself in the so-called energy music of the period, playing alongside such musicians as Don Cherry and Archie Shepp; he contributed to "Ascension";, John Coltrane's most radical album. Despite such heated surroundings, Tchicai's constantly probing style has retained something of a cool Scandinavian ambience. Now based in Davis, California, he leads a cutting-edge septet called the Archetypes that combines "outside" jazz with blues, rock, funk, African, and spoken-word elements in unexpected and ultimately refreshing ways. This British import, the group's first album, is well worth searching out."