Andrea Parkins is an accordion witch. She has used her cataclysmic magic in association with
John Zorn,
Jim Black, and others of the modern no-wave pantheon. Her cohorts on
Slippage are
Briggan Krauss on clarinet as well as alto and baritone saxophones and percussionist
Kenny Wollesen. Sometimes
Krauss sputters spastic free jazz runs of notes while
Parkins furiously works the accordion, as in "Early TV." Sometimes the three lock in to a heavy groove, as in the grand fantasy on "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" entitled "Local Cosmography." At times playing to the accompaniment of a sampler,
Parkins sometimes frees a hand and plays a bit of piano, too. On "Lost Lure," the album's most sparse selection, she provides a segmented keyboard melody sonorously backed by low-end horn.
Slippage is a raucous ride of avant-jazz performed by a trio sometimes fused and directed, sometimes reckless in their wild abandon. The result, as it slips from control to chaos, is a memorable episodic trip. ~ Tom Schulte, All Music Guide