Unwrapped

Album review

Clay Henry's musical collective Dark Chocolate is a kind of sophisticated drum circle, an elaborate rhythm section heading off into the unknown and taking interesting approaches to familiar styles. Many of the musicians Henry gathered for the group's first album, 2008's Island Gypsy, are back, along with some new recruits. Early on, the percussionists set up polyrhythmic patterns, over which such musicians as pianist Webber Iago and guitarist Joseph Lucido play in a free, avant-garde manner, creating unusual soundscapes. By halfway through the disc, however, the musicians begin taking on established styles. "Muffuletta," for example, has a New Orleans second-line beat, while "Braziliero," as its name implies, employs a Latin rhythm. On "Your Skin Is Where I Begin," it's time for space age exotica, as singer Jane Blikert intones, "Master, I am here to serve you." And "Hip Talk," with such percussion instruments as dumbeck and tumba, is the album's Indian excursion. Dark Chocolate is more of a concept than a band, and its music features considerable spontaneity, making up in dynamics what it lacks in structure.

© William Ruhlmann /TiVo