The album starts with "Float-ing Fanfare," which features Lindberg's bass and Wadada Leo Smith's poignant trumpet, then proceeds to "Waltz Four" which has some haunting interplay between Smith's trumpet and Larry Ochs's soprano sax with discourse underneath from Lindberg's bass and Andrew Cyrille's brushes.
The centerpiece of the album is Lindberg's homage to three bassists who have influenced him—Fred Hopkins, Jimmy Garrison and Charles Mingus. "Hydrofoil," a short free piece for Fred Hopkins, features some fierce bowing and blowing with a driving polyrhythmic drum and bowed bass duet and some intense free horn playing.
Jimmy Garrison's "Ascendant" starts with a melodic Ornette-ish theme. Ochs has an outside, gruff-sounding tenor sax solo, and is soon joined by some contrasting more inside trumpet playing from Smith. The piece also features a melodic, swinging, imaginative drum solo from Cyrille.
Charles Mingus's "Nostalgia in Times Square" features some conversational trumpet and tenor sax exchanges (reminiscent of some of the conversational playing of Mingus and Eric Dolphy) and another fine drum solo. Lindberg shows off some his bass techniques—bowing, plucking below the bridge, fast melodic playing, double-stops and so on. On his solo, Cyrille uses the drum kit melodically, relating back to Mingus's composition.
Other tunes include the slow ballad-like "Ground Multiple," which starts with some impressive solo bowed bass work. Lindberg then switches to plucked bass as the band joins in and Smith has an extended solo. At the end, Lindberg returns to boweding underneath Ochs's soprano sax solo. "Area 6" features some extended techniques, and includes percussively played bass and some very out sax playing. "Sophie's Lullaby" is a catchy tune with bass and drum duet (Cyrille returns to the brushes).
The album closes with the long title track, which starts with bowed bass, drums, soprano sax and trumpet with a broken rhythm played by the drums. After several minutes, the rhythm section coalesces into a groove as Lindberg switches to plucked bass, and the horns start trading phrases using a short melody. There's also a drum and bass duet a bit later. At around the ten minute mark, the mood changes as the soprano sax and trumpet play a slower melody over a steady rhythm from bass, with percussive accents from the drums.
Like Lindberg's other recent work, The Catbird Sings features intriguing compositions and superb playing and is well worth hearing.
— Alan Lankin, August 2001
Release Date: 17 October 2000 The Catbird Sing (Soul Note)
1. Float-ing Fanfare (Lindberg) - 4:55 / 2. Waltz Four (Lindberg) - 6:04 / 3. Hydrofoil (For Fred Hopkins) (Lindberg) - 3:27 / 4. Ascendant (Garrison) - 7:00 / 5. Nostaglia in Times Square (Mingus) - 7:19 / 6. Ground Multiple (Lindberg) - 9:32 / 7. Area 6 (Lindberg) - 4:28 / 8. Sophie's Lullaby (Lindberg) - 4:27 / 9. The Catbird Sings (Lindberg) - 15:41 (62:57)
Personnel:
Wadada Leo Smith: trumpet / Larry Ochs: sopranino, tenor saxophone / John Lindberg: bass / Andrew Cyrille: drums