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Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant
Bassist Trevor Dunn has lived a double life, both as demented thrasher (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas) and upright jazz improviser (Ben Goldberg, Graham Connah's Sour Note Seven). The two sides of his personality are reconciled on Debutantes & Centipedes, his slamming debut recording, soon to be released on Buzz, a new offshoot of Dutch label Challenge Records. Featuring versatile Bay Area guitarist Adam Levy (poised to make the big move to New York, along with Dunn) and one-of-a-kind drummer Kenny Wollesen (a ubiquitous presence in NYC since quitting San Francisco a few years back), Dunn's Trio-Convulsant deftly interweaves the compositional elegance of jazz with the anything-goes pandemonium of his Bungle upbringing.

Fusing the melodic edginess and unexpected rhythmic twists of the most vital contemporary improv with the bracing feedback and crushing beats of earthquaking hardcore punk, the bassist's arrangements resound as a clarion call to self-appointed avant-gardists who have yet to stretch beyond the shadow of '60s pioneers Albert Ayler or John Coltrane. Seemingly forged from the molten metal of Rasta punks Bad Brains -- sans the smoked-out attitude -- tunes like "Perfumed With Crime" and "I Remember Freakies Cereal" push the kinds of boundaries most improvisers only dream of. And it's this willingness to fray the edges of the creative fringe that makes Trio-Convulsant one of the most daring groups in modern music.

-- Sam Prestianni

Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant celebrates its CD release on Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. at Bruno's, 2389 Mission (at 20th Street), S.F. Tickets are $4; call 550-7455.