Reviews:

Trombones sound funny. Any musician who approaches that unwieldy brass beast without keeping that simple fact in mind courts disaster. And when more than one trombone is brought into play, that warning goes double (or triple, depending on how may ’bones are borne).

But even if you’re unfamiliar with 73-year-old avant-jazzman Roswell Rudd’s past work, titles such as "Bone Again," "Slide and the Family Bone" and "Sand in My Slide Shuffle" should instantly set your mind at ease. Rudd’s not only proven himself more adventurous than most septuagenarians; he’s also proven himself more adept at finding concrete styles in which to ground that adventurousness than most avant-jazzmen. In recent years, he’s collaborated with Toumani Diabate in Mali (I know, who hasn’t?), wailed amongst a crew of Tuvans in Mali and fooled around with Latin jazz as well.

Trombone Tribe is even more ambitious—and, not coincidentally, more fun—as it uncovers affinities between New Orleans jazz, Gypsy music and Kurt Weill, bringing in a variety of musicians to keep things fresh. Five tracks showcase Rudd’s Trombone Tribe ensemble—with Deborah Weisz and Steve Swell joining him on trombone, Bob Stewart on tuba, bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Barry Altschul. Steven Bernstein’s Sex Mob stops in to demolish "Twelve Bars," while the Gangbé Brass Band contributes to the five-part closing suite. But whoever’s in the studio with him, Rudd continually proves himself to be a quick-thinking musician whose brain is always directly connected to his funny ’bone.