Bell

Personnel: Craig Taborn (piano); Mat Maneri (viola); Ches Smith (vibraphone, drums, timpani).Liner Note Author: Paolo Soriani.Recording information: Avatar Studios, New York (06/2015).Despite appearing on more than 50 recordings since the beginning of the 21st century, drummer/percussionist Ches Smith has led only a handful of dates. His credits sprawl across the catalogs of indie rock acts such as Xiu Xiu, Mr. Bungle, and Carla Bozulich as well as modern jazz artists John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Wadada Leo Smith, and Mary Halvorson, and he's a member of Tim Berne's Snakeoil. (The saxophonist also plays in Smith's These Arches.) The Bell is his ECM debut as a leader. Smith chose pianist Craig Taborn and violist Mat Maneri as his companions into this foray of composition and improvisation. Taborn and Maneri have worked together before on the pianist's Junk Magic set for Thirsty Ear in 2004. Smith originally formed the group for a lone New York gig, but the collective language they discovered