Songs for the man-machine interface: If there is any doubt that the music loosely described as jazz is undergoing a retrofit of tidal wave shifting, tectonic plate moving proportions, look no further than the progressive sounds of Steve Lehman and Paradigm.

Performing on alto saxophone, and apparently composing in Pro Tools, Steve Lehman Quintet's On Meaning takes its Freud-meets-Baudrillard title seriously. Lehman's debut release, Demian As Posthuman, merged the heady improvisations and advanced harmonics of jazz with a Pro Tools cut-and-paste approach. What sounded like digitally arranged tunes darting through black holes and time warp territories was actually Lehman's mean quintet playing like demonic digital genies. Drummer Tyshawn Sorey's jerky, immaculate rhythms gave the leader's celestial messages a certain deadly charm. Part drum and bass frenetics, part advanced jazz logic (Max Roach meets The Terminator?) Sorey's drumming was matched by the quintet's method of subtle expansion on repeated themes, consequently expanding and advancing the standard jazz outlook.

Consider the following two tunes from On Meaning. "Analog Moment"--a title which could only exist in these totally digital times--has all the hothouse charm of a blowing session between Jack Teagarden, Peanuts Hucko and Cootie Williams, but the rhythms dart beneath the melodies like rats scurrying for cover. Suspended, ethereal vibraphone notes give the song a soulful glue, a human element amid the song's incredibly progressive improvisations.

"Haiku d'Etat Transcription" is looser, slower and freer, its introduction a languid place to hide, followed by a graffiti like web of trumpet, saxophone and vibraphone rushing the music along like cold wind on a winter's day.

Other tracks challenge listeners to keep up. "Open Music" dances a Latin/robot pulse with cool jazz vibraphone; "Great Plains Of Algiers" is all beatnik reverie, an ethereal Moon swept swell of clanging gong, woozy horn and finger tapped drums; "Check This Out" rides a simpler funk groove and a unison-performed melody like break dancers cruising in platforms and plaid.

On Meaning draws from many sources: free jazz, digital arrangements, progressive funk, drum and bass, and in the process pushes the idiom forward with a fresh approach and challenging linguistics. America may no longer have a manufacturing base, but with musicians like Lehman leading the way, we continue to corner the world market on innovation.

"Analog Moment"

"Haiku d'Etat Transcription"

Robots, Part II: Similarly forward but with their roots in soul/funk rather than hardheaded jazz, Paradigm's Melodies For Uncertain Robots uses sampling and liberal genre references to make its point. "Mourning Dancers" could be a funky gem from Soulive or Yellowjackets, its playful melody performed on Rhodes piano, saxophone and guitar over a slipping, sliding funk groove.  Vastly more interesting is the electronica altered track, "Littlejohn Island," funk flamethrower, "Particles," and ambient soundscape, "Signs Of Life." Though not as daring, innovative or exciting as Lehman's On Meaning, Paradigm's Melodies For Uncertain Robots provides easier access to the coming man-machine interface. Don't forget your charger.

Paradigm
"Mourning Dancers" (mp3)
from "Melodies for Uncertain Robots"
(Ropeadope Digital)

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