Preston's roots are deep in jazz. Transformation shows what he can do twisting a standard around and delving a bit into his own compositional bag as well. Preston explores two Carla Bley compositions, the classic "Walking BatterieWoman" and more obscure "The Donkey." He leaps out of the first track's purposefully clunky theme into sprightly freeplay and group interplay; on "Donkey" he engages in full-on swing. " Pieces like "Inner Blues," the two John Carter compositions ("Ode To The Flower Maiden"
and "Transformation"), and the Frank Zappa piece that kicks off the record all have quite clear centers of melodic gravity. Preston resides on the edge of tonality, toying with it.
Down Beat
April 2001
