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| Jeremy Pelt photo by Sally Pritchard |
When a new album comes out from an artist that you have
listened to and appreciated, it is always a moment of anticipation when you play
the first cut and see if it holds up to your expectations. I have been a fan of
Jeremy Pelt’s playing for quite some time and when the opening notes of the
lead off song “Baswald’s Place,” from Pelt's latest # Jive Cuture, hit my ears I knew
I was in for a treat. Pelt has a
beautiful tone and his attack is precise and piquant. The interplay with
the superbly swinging Billy Drummond on drums is a lesson in synchronous dynamism
and of course the ever present foundation of the swing is laid down to
perfection by the inimitable Ron Carter on bass.
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| Jeremy Pelt's #Jive Culture High Note # HCD7285 |
It is the opportunity to play with the great bassist Carter
that made this date all the more special for Pelt. The mutual respect these two
have is on brilliant display on Carter’s “Einbahnstrasse” a down home blues
that features a potent solo by Carter and some lyrically responsive trumpet
playing by Pelt. The song is the perfect vehicle for the group to simply strut
its ability to swing.
On Cole Porter’s “Dream
Dancing,” Pelt’s beautifully Chet Baker-like solo floats on Drummond’s steady cymbal-driven
beat and Carter’s full bodied, roaming bass lines. Pianist Danny Grissett comps
to perfection behind Pelt before taking a gorgeous solo where he elegantly
ventures off into his own extrapolation of the melody. It seems that the
inclusion of the venerable Carter into the group has elevated the maturity level
of all the players on this date, as they each play within the song to great effect.
The Dave Grusin/ Allan Bergman ballad “A Love Like Ours” is
perhaps the piece de re.sis.tance of the entire album. This achingly beautiful song
features Pelt’s lone voice at his most lyrically emotive, with the band playing
behind him in a brilliant display of subtle complimentary playing at its
finest. It doesn’t get much better than this.
As if to demarcate a change in approach, Drummond’s solo
rolling drums open the second part of this album for almost two minutes before
the group gets into the main theme of Pelt’s composition “The Haunting.” Pelt’s
trumpet wanders around the core of the melody, often modulating the level of
intensity with his horn as the band plays on. Carter is particularly active in
his playing, peppering the loose swing provided by Drummond with a variety of
accented notes and bends. Grissett plays an equally elusive solo.
The deceptively cadenced “Rhapsody” features a syncopated
rhythmic vamp that Drummond and Carter produce in conjunction with the ethereal
sounds of Grissett on Fender Rhodes. Pelt uses this throbbing groove to establish
a floating, tension-building trumpet solo that escalates the drama in the song. Through a series of increasingly urgent sounds, Pelt creats the
illusion of entering into the unknown until the song fades out into oblivion at
the coda.
Opening with an unaccompanied solo piano introduction by
Grissett that sets the alluring mood of “Akua,” is a slow, sauntering ballad, whose
repeating vamp imprints in your brain long after you leave it. The film noir-like
theme features Pelt’s poignantly muted trumpet and Grissett’s pensive piano work.
Carter’s walking bass meanders with creative two-step in-fills that add to the feel of this sultry song.
The final song of the cd is another Pelt original titled “Desire,”
an upbeat, loosely structured romp where the rhythm is turbulently played by
Drummond creating a sense of unease. that is punctuated by Carter’s roving bass.
Grissett and Pelt are both featured playing on the repeating vamp which is the
armature around which they base their improvisational ideas. Grissett ventures
off into unpredictable grounds on his solo before returning to the theme. Pelt is
equally off to the wilderness with his probing trumpet only occasionally touching
on the theme in some remote way before magically resolving back to it before
the finale.
With #Jive Culture Jeremy Pelt has achieved that rare plateau where hipness meets maturity in one totally satisfying album.
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