A 'Surrender' to Fusion April 23, 1996 - Chicago Sun-Times by Lloyd Sachs Guitarist Anastasio Melds Jazz, Pop in New Project In the great halls of terminology, "fusion music" will forever be known as the hybrid of jazz and rock popularized in the late '60s and early '70s by Tony Williams, Miles Davis and Weather Report -- and quickly driven into the ground by less-inspired talents. But in recent times, fueled by the acid jazz movement's marriage of hip-hop and classic hard bop, more and more pop artists have become interested in and conversant with jazz. And jazz artists, usually to the dismay of jazz critics, have involved themselves in pop forms. The surest sign that the mixture has taken is when you have trouble separating one style from the other. That's certainly the case with "Surrender to the Air" (Elektra), an audacious instrumental side project of guitarist Trey Anastasio. Anastasio is the leader of Phish, the wildly successful, jam-oriented rock band. He claims the idea for the CD came to him in a dream, and it's hard to imagine how else he could have envisioned a group including saxist Marshall Allen and trumpeter Michael Ray of free jazz's Sun Ra Arkestra, avant guitar wiz Marc Ribot, organist John Medeski of edgy groove band Medeski, Martin & Wood and killer bassist Oteil Burbridge of progressive rock's Aquarium Rescue Unit. Freely improvised, the music is dreamlike, sometimes floating through space, more often waking you up with nightmarish power surges. Drawing from sources as diverse as acid rock, fusion-era Miles and atonal jazz, "Surrender" features 11 souls wailing, screeching and clanging to their heart's content -- and ours. One of those jazz artists hammered by critics for his crossover efforts is British saxophonist Courtney Pine. A onetime bop phenom, he has since devoted himself to incorporating reggae, hip-hop and world music into his soulful, streaming sound. Pine has yet to fuse styles into a compelling whole, but he is getting closer to that goal with each album. His latest, "Modern Day Jazz Stories" (Verve), is undeniably seductive. Boasting a core band including jazz heavy Geri Allen on piano and organ and DJ Pogo on turntables, it layers shifting rhythmic undercurrents beneath coolly swinging statements. Like many young saxists, Pine is too in love with his soprano sax, which has limited range. But when guest singer Cassandra Wilson is breathing her sensual tones through a variation on Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain," you won't mind. Styles and eras are fused right and left on "We the People" (Giant Step/Impulse!), the second album by New York's Groove Collective. Drawing upon styles including hip-hop, '70s soul (Chic, War, Isaac Hayes) and Afro-Cuban music, the ethnically diverse, 10-member band delivers relaxed vocals, agreeably sweat-stained horn charts and a vibe as upbeat as it is assured. SSSH!: Alto saxist Guillermo Gregorio, the highest-ranking free jazz musician from Buenos Aires now residing in Michigan City, Ind., has a directive for those attending his performance tomorrow at the Empty Bottle: Listen. "We're so surrounded by noise, noise, noise, whether from traffic or TV commercials," he said. "My mission is to get people to open their ears, to listen again to things they can almost not hear." As a veteran of the free jazz movement of the '60s, when the intent was to "pulverize any element related to a conventional structure," the 54-year-old Gregorio has little use for retro-minded musicians who simulate that anger. What is radical for him now is "to pronounce things in a very low voice." That he does on "Approximately" (hat ART). His first album under his own name, it reveals a heightened interest in melodic development, as preached in the 1940s by pianist Lennie Tristano and further explored by saxists Warne Marsh (with whom Gregorio studied) and Lee Konitz after Tristano's death. "I'm interested in incorporating more elements than melody," said Gregorio, who has lived in Michigan City for four years (his wife teaches at Purdue University). A seasoned composer in contemporary classical forms, and a degreed architect who brings a graphic sensibility to jazz, he will perform at the Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, with Boston pianist Pandelis Karayorgis. © 1996 Chicago Sun-Times