the blues of the birth

Mikhail Horowitz's exuberant word jazz hits all the high notes and then keeps climbing, a wild blend of Lord Buckley, Jack Kerouacand Professor Irwin Corey that bops the Apocalypse. Like Lenny Bruce in the mid-'60s, Horowitz goes way beyond what mere mortals consider comedy. He's a lucid Hunter Thompson. He's the Where's Waldo? children's books as drawn by Hieronymus Bosch. Blues Of The Birth, his Euphoria/Sundazed debut, features Horowitz riffing wildly in front of a bass player and a couple of reedmen. "If I know where I'm going with a piece and I get in a jam," says Horowitz, "I can improvise and land like a cat."