The son of famous jazz photographer Lee Friedlander who contributes (look hard) a photo to the inside CD pocket, cellist Erik Friedlander, who’s worked with John Zorn, Sylvie Courvoisier, and Mark Feldman in the past, here with his band Bonebridge that recorded the Americana-styled record of the same name from three years back, so it’s the cellist with guitarist Doug Wamble, who comes into his own on slide guitar on ‘Poolhall Payback’ plus bassist Trevor Dunn and drummer Michael Sarin. Recorded in Brooklyn last May Friedlander had begun preparations for the record the previous autumn during the time Hurricane Sandy had battered New York. The cellist says that time was an “odd environment of quiet and solitude.” And that preparation has made for an unusual sound, the deeper cello lines altering the point of syncopated attack that otherwise would make the album resemble something Bill Frisell might happily have come up with. Pool hall/diner music, part of the concept (the title takes it name from a Hopper painting), there’s a certain “stuff-happens”, eventually almost road movie, quality to Nighthawks, the fairly exploratory string textures blending Americana and improvised music disciplines with enough stamina to definitely reach the 26 gasoline stations, an oblique image (after Ed Ruscha?) the Cooder-esque sixth track itself conjures up. SG
Released on 20 May