Life Dance of Is

AMG Review of Life Dance of Is

Eugene Chadbourne
All Music Guide

Great things were expected of this album, one of the first half-dozen created by this extremely exciting and talented musician in the early days of his career. He had already done several superb albums that drew from the same pool of musicians, and had tightened these relationships into a regular band who was working a bit and getting tighter and hotter all the time. The Novus label was a new line being promoted by Arista, and the whole idea was to give Lake a biggie push. Maybe this somehow corrupted the musical goals, as there is something lacking in this album despite some exciting moments. The whole thing is a bit like picking up a piece of luggage at the baggage belt, heading for the door with it, realizing it feels a bit light, and then opening it to find out that all the contents one packed are missing, although the suitcase is still there. The contents in this case might have been the exciting musical moments that would have been there if any of the six compositions included had been allowed to breathe, to stretch out and develop into something meaningful. With each of these pieces one can assume that the original is located with kernels of inspiration and provides ample ideas and directions for the players. This much is a given, since Lake is such a fine composer. The players here could have easily run for the hills with any of the material here, yet somehow a blockade is always set up; the music makes a change of some kind, most likely one that seems forced, instead of really taking off. Listeners who first discovered Lake as a soloist on the loose-as-a-goose jam orgies of the Human Arts Ensemble will wonder if it is the same horn player here, other than the obvious evidence that nobody has a sound like his. The album is, in a word, uptight, and we're not referring to the message of the Stevie Wonder song of the same name.