THE END OF AN EAR

Add another half star if you're a fan of the jazzier end of Canterbury....subtract half a star if you're only midly interested....run for the hills if you don't like jazz. Wyatt's open ended jams - tough to call 'em "jams" though, more like avant-mood pieces - outjazz the Soft Machine's Fourth. For all it's chaos, the albums flows nicely....ideas develop then shift on a dime, moods are set-shattered-reset-shattered, yet the album is highly listenable, even catchy at times. Wyatt (who'd been listening to Elvin Jones in the later Coltrane bands) is joined by some of Canterbury's finest (who'd also been tuned Coltrane's avant albums and Miles' In a Silent Way) and their improvisations kind of meld into what I guess you'd call a fusion of Coltrane's Om/Ascension whailing and the spacious soundscapes Miles Davis' late 60s bands were creating mixed with the typical trippy Canterburian wit. A must for Wyatt fans....he really was a good percussionist....and a real treat for those who've been thru his Softs and Matching Mole stuff. It's been rereleased on Columbia's Rewind series at a budget price....now all you have to do is wait at the used CD bins as fans of his more melodic whimsical Rock Bottom and Ruth is Stranger... come to give ...Ear the dump.