Brzmienie Mapleshade... Podobnego nie znajdą Państwo nigdzie indziej na świecie. Czym się wyróżnia? Brutalną, wręcz porażającą prawdą naturalnego brzmienia. Dźwięki instrumentów brzmią zrazu niecodziennie. Uzupełnia je genialna wprost scena. Muzycy grają razem, patrzą sobie w oczy, gestykulują, podkreślają emocje gestami, minami, pozą ciała. Wzajemnie się motywują, dialogują. I to słychać w sposób wręcz namacalny. Bo ta właśnie realność lub realizm to kolejny element zaskoczenia od pierwszych sekund odsłuchu tych nagrań. Wszyscy Państwo poczują metafizyczne drgniecie organizmu. Całego, warz z nim i duszy. Bo nie są Państwo przygotowani na dźwięk tak NATURALNY. I idę o zakład... O zakład, ze po kilku sekundach poczują Państwo lekką dezorientację. Nie będą Państwo wiedzieli, co jest tu ważniejsze: brzmienie czy treść. Al;bo: treść ma znaczenie wtórne wobec takiego brzmienia! Jest też trzecia możlwość: cóż za treść! Ileż zyskuje muzyka dzięki TAKIEMU brzmieniu! Drummer Bobby Battle's first date as leader is a winner on all counts. The Offering delivers superb music, superlative sonics, and superior production. Battle's longest and most productive association (at least in terms of recording) was with the Arthur Blythe group. He also has worked with Don Pullen, Archie Shepp, and David Murray. Battle, like many jazz percussionists today, uses the cymbals more than the drums themselves. He works the metal masterfully, keeping a precise yet swinging beat beneath a wash of shimmering timbres and colors. Then he takes a solo, he reverts to more actual drumming, but you can tell that he can hardly wait to switch his attention back to the Zildjians. Battle's colleagues on this session are Larry Willis at the piano, bassist Santi Debriano, and tenor sax giant David Murray. Murray, in particular, blossoms in this company. His playing is more relaxed and freely melodic than on many of his own recordings. Perhaps having no responsibilities aside from showing up and playing felt good for a change. Murray plays on four of the six pieces in the program. The opening Ballad for Frederick, a Willis composition dedicated to the memory of drummer Freddie Waits, is Murray's tour de force. His economical eloquence here communicates so clearly and so fully that the composer's own solo is anticlimactic. Murray takes over Jitterbug Waltz almost as fully, but leaves more room for his colleagues' statements on Monk's I Mean You and bassist Santi Debriano's Jazz Laughter. There are two trio pieces on the disc: the title tune, written by Debriano, and To Wisdom, the Prize, penned by Willis. Wisdom has a Latin-bossa beat behind an airy melody that Willis harmonizes warmly. The Offering is more of a bass figure than a melody. Its sparseness is its strength and it inspires the trio to turn out a performance of impressive variety and invention. Engineer and producer Pierre M. Sprey uses no mixing board, filtering, compression, equalization, noise reduction, multitracking, or overdubbing. There are further specifications, but they all tend to support the "less is more" rule for engineering natural sounding recordings. The packaging doesn't follow that rule. It includes an unusually thick printed insert that provides a biographical sketch and clear photo of each performer as well as a descriptive essay on the music and the recording session. (CD Review, Tom Krebbiel)