A forum for jazz reviews, discussion of new jazz, blues music, the musicians, reviews of recent and historical releases, reviews of live performances, concerts, interviews and almost anything I find of interest.
by Ralph A. Miriello
Making modern improvised music is a constantly evolving work process. Experimenting, adding and rejecting concepts, honing creative skills in ways that add to, or at times, cull and refine the possibilities. Current trends often involve the creative use of electronics and effects to expand the palette of possible colorations available to the musician in the process of creating new music. When you start off with this concept and you intend to enhance the music for the listener's pleasure, you had better come through when they invest their time with you.
Along comes a group, Perceptions Trio, that was formed in Basel, Switzerland in 2019 and released their debut album The Wicked Crewon February 14, 2025. The trio is made up of French saxophonist Charley Rose, the Swiss guitarist Silvan Joray and the Brazilian drummer Paulo Almeida. The trio is a bass-less, piano-less group that adds electronic synths and effects to expand the sound possibilities that the saxophone of Rose and the guitar of Joray can employ, as lead instruments, to make the sound fuller, tonally diverse, and more textured. Drummer Almeida is intuitive and adds his own percussive colors deftly to the mix with sensitivity and a solid sense of rhythm. These guys seem to be promising, with some very interesting ideas being presented on this album, but in some of their offerings they seem to be still in the gestation period of their development.
Silvan Jory, Charlie Rose and Paulo Almeida (photo credit unknown)
Saxophonist Rose hails from outside of Paris . He has played with pianist Benoît Delbecq's Multiplexers since 2018 and is also a leader of his own trio since 2016. Rose has admitted to being inspired by boundary crossing composers like Stravinsky and Prokofiev. He has roots in rock as well as traditional and free jazz.
Guitarist Joray is from Switzerland, but now resides in Brooklyn, NY. where he has added an American flavor to his inventive European style of electric guitar. He has played in festivals and concerts across Europe, Scandinavia and Africa. Joray has studied with guitar master Wolfgang Muthspiel, who has expanded the guitarist's sonic concepts and encouraged him to compose of his own music.
Drummer Almeida has brought his own sense of Afro-Brazilian-inflected rhythms to the group's music. He has played with diverse modern artists like progressive oud playing vocalist Dhafer Youseff, percussionist and vibes player Jorge Rossy, and Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal, as well his work with guitarist Muthspiel. He is also an educator at Jazzcampus University in Basel.
The Wicked Crew includes ten compositions three written by Rose, three written by Joray and two written by Almeida along with two improvised compositions by the trio. The opening number, Rose's "Radio Goose Bumps," has elements of fusion in the synth and pedal effects the wired guitar and sax that these players use to create an otherworldly scene. The music is tight, rhythmically and melodically interesting and there is certainly enough proficiency on display.
Joray's "Ubarto," one of my personal favorites, takes a softer approach, with an ballad-like feel and some nuanced colorations from Joray's sensitive guitar work complimented by Rose's fluttering, electronically modulated, voice-like saxophone and Almeida's muted drum and cymbal work. This one is atmospheric, at times eerie, and it touches the listener viscerally.
"Perceptions" is another thoughtful, almost spiritual-like Joray offering worth checking out. The guitar leads with a gentle strumming, metronomic-like musical armature upon which Rose's mournfully sounding saxophone adds an emotional, wandering-like melody, accented by a skillful use of drum and cymbal accents by Almeida. These guys are at their best conjuring up a sonically rich meditative hymn that swells with hope and promise.
The group includes two improvisational pieces, "Andromeda" and "Nebulosa," that both seem to be in-the-moment, unstructured, atmospheric, free-association type vamps. Interesting, but not particularly my cup of tea.
The cover composition "The Wicked Crew" is a nothing special, synth and drum driven vamp that frankly looses me in its electronica splendor. As a feature for Almeida's drum work, his rhythmic prowess shines through.
Almeida's "Lit Candles" is another aural landscape that features a variety of percussive colors, as Jory and Rose play opposite each other in counterpoint.
"Sombra" is another composition by the drummer Almeida. Shifting rhythmically, after some initial wandering, Almeida is given a brief drum feature before Joray on guitar and Rose on sax offer brief comments.
Rose's "Flashlights and Sewer Explorations" is perhaps the group's inside joke. The music is somewhat directionless. Rose plays sensitively before Joray's guitar takes on prog rock inspired sound and Almeida's drum work becomes appropriately explosive, but to what purpose. Ascending and descending and bringing the listener to a dead end. This music feels somewhat self-serving, and after taking a ride with them that leads nowhere, you hear the group laugh at the end as if to say "How cool was that?"
"Peaceful Departure" is the final of Joray's compositions on this album. He is clearly the most promising composer of the three. The music effortlessly captures the listener's attention because the music has a sonic story to tell. The three seem to be well suited to play this calming, melodically rich music. Rose's ability to find his most emotionally connecting saxophone work is on display, and Jorya's guitar skills prove deft. Almeida's drum work is beautifully understated and complimentary. Another song that demonstrates what Perception Trio is capable of and shows these guys should be kept
The Atlanta based drummer Dave Potter has made a name for himself as a part of the rhythm sections of the vibraphonist Jason Marsalis, saxophonist Greg Tardy, pianist Eric Reed and the pianist Marcus Roberts. Originally from North Carolina, Potter studied his trade at Florida State University, where he received a masters degree after turning down an offer to attend prestigious Julliard School of Music to continue his education under the tutelage of Roberts, who is on the faculty at Florida.
I met Dave when I lived in Atlanta for several years and had a chance to see him perform up close at jazz impresario Sam Yi's Mason Tavern and at one of the popular jazz shows at Atlanta's High Museum. I had more than one occasion to talk with Dave about the music. Besides being a very good drummer, he is a thoughtful student of the music.
Dave Potter (photo credit unknown)
Potter has been working as a leader with his Retro Groove group for several years now. He has developed a musical simpatico with saxophonist Miguel Alvarado, one of the group's stalwarts, and their interaction shines on his latest record Retro Groove 2, which was released on February 7, 2025.
In addition to Alvarado on tenor, Potter is joined by Angelo Versace on piano and Rob Lintin on bass. The album includes two guests, vibraphonist Jason Marsalis, who also uses Potter in his Vibes Quartet, and saxophonist Greg Tardy.
Retro Groove 2is Potter's third release as a leader and on this one he chooses music from the late seventies and eighties as vehicles on which to add his own brand of hardbop and progressive jazz influences to modernize these often overlooked songs.
The music on this album is varied, with influences that span dance-pop, R & B, prog rock, soft Soul, and even film inspired music. I believe that some of Potter's choices were influenced by who was playing drums on the original song releases.
Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" is a dance-pop song that still can make you move your feet. Potter opens this one with an ostinato bass line by Linton before Potter's propulsive drum work and Alvarado's urgent tenor take it to another level. Abdul's original recording from 1988 and ironically used a drum machine for its rhythm section.
Whitney Houston's 1985 release ,"Saving All My Love For You," was originally covered by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. of Fifth Dimension fame. The ballad was composed Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin and features a great saxophone solo by session-master Tom Scott. Whitney's voice took this to another level. Potter and his team's approach provides some plucky bass work by Linton, heartfelt tenor by Alvarado and sensitive piano work by Versace. Potter's drum work is subtle and his instrumental arrangement adds a modernistic approach to this vocal centric R & B classic.
"License to Kill" is the lead song of the James Bond thriller from 1989. The music for the original movie was composed by Michael Kamen. John Barry, the usual music master behind Bond movies, was unavailable due to illness. The title song was originally to be played by Eric Clapton and Vic Flick (an English studio guitarist who cut the original guitar work for the James Bond theme), but ultimately Gladys Knight was chosen to sing the theme. The lead song was composed by fusion drummer Narada Michael Walden with Jeffrey Cohen and Walter Afanasieff, so there lies the drummer connection to Potter's musical choices. Potter may have intuitively felt the drumming influence in this theme, or not, but the music is fun, the band executes it with gusto and whether you are a Bond fan or not the music grabs you and can evoke good memories.
The band covers an Isley Brothers' 1975 release "For the Love of You", a soft R & B composition that Potter and company plays in a jaunty, swinging way proving these hidden gems can be vehicles that can be fertile for improvisation.
Potter is young enough to have been influenced by prog rock style of the Canadian group Rush and their drummer Neal Peart, a drumming legend. "Tom Sawyer" is a song with a theme about rebellion and individualism. Released in 1981, this prog rock anthem is opened by Potter with his own explosive drum entre, demonstrating some of his skills, and the group takes off from there. Alvarado sets out the repeating melody line on his potent tenor. Linton on bass and Potter on drums create a forceful rumble of power before Versace produces a fluid improvisation that weaves in and out of the staccato theme. This rendition is half prog rock, half modern jazz with a special tip of the hat to Alvarado's incendiary sax solo. A powerful piece.
The pace slows, as the group tackles the soulful "Why Can't We Fall in Love" from Deniece Williams from 1979. Potter, Linton and Versace accompany guest Jason Marsalis' vibraphone on this one. The vibes have a warm, resonating sound that accentuate the emotional side of this music and Versace gives an added color to the song on his piano solo. Potter on brushes and Linton on bass give appropriately muted accompaniment.
The hit song "Rosanna" is a 1982 release by the group Toto. It's famous for it's session drummer Jeff Porcaro's iconic "Half-Time Shuffle Groove" on the song. Potter opens with his own devoted version of Porcaro's memorable drum pattern as guest Greg Tardy's tenor sax is heard spelling out the theme's melody. The music has a joyous feel to it and the group relishes the soft shuffle that propels this one. Versace adds a bit of a honky-tonk piano part as Tardy wails.
The finale is from Michael Sembello's "Maniac" a theme from the 1983 dance movie "Flashdance."
Potter mines some interesting creative possibilities from this potpourri of some of the less memorable music of the seventies and eighties. I am more endeared to the music of the sixties and early seventies, my era, so I guess I'm a bit prejudiced. To me, not all these songs stand the test of time as well as others. It doesn't take away from the effort that Potter and his bandmates took to modernize these compositions in a way that preserves the memories associated with these songs for those who lived with them during an important part of their lives. Under Potter's direction, Retro Groove 2 makes this era music is enlivened, contemporized, played with verve and talent and just plain fun to listen to. I call that a success.
I recently received a new album from the multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson released on his self-produced ScienSonic label. I have always been impressed by the music that comes out of this inventive spirit. Being one of the most accomplished musicians I have ever met, Robinson is also a thinking musician who has dedicated his life's work to both proficiency and expansion. He is a master practitioner and a collector of some of the most unusual and diverse instruments you might find in the business. He has often been awarded top acknowledgement on such instruments. His collection includes a contra-bass saxophone, bass clarinet, Theremin, C Melody saxophone, baritone saxophone, various trumpets, a bass marimba and F Tuba to name just a few. His main instrument is the tenor saxophone. His multi-instrumental musicianship can be found on his many works as a section member and soloist in Maria Schneider's award-winning orchestra, and with the Charles Mingus Big Band, the Vanguard Jazz Band and the Sun Ra Arkestra not to mention some European orchestras. His work has also been been found in groups that have included Joe Lovano, Ron Carter, Marshall Allen, Paquito D'Rivera, Chet Baker, Teri Lynne Carrington, and Ella Fitzgerald to name a few. His most recent album Tenormore was released in 2019 and I named it one of my best of releases for that year.
Scott is the proverbial mad scientist of jazz. He is always searching and exploring. Expanding the tonal palette that he uses to create his music is just one of his many pursuits, the quest to finding the perfect note. He has been playing music with two other unique musical explorers since the late eighties- drummer/percussionist/educator Pheeroan akLaff and distinguished Phycology Professor and bassist Dr. Julian Thayer- so it surprising that these guys never released an album of their music until now!
Scott Robinson and Julian Thayer (Photo credit unknown)
Brooklyn born Dr. Julian Thayer is an accomplished bassist who initially pursued a musical education at Berklee in Boston before following his muse, receiving his PhD from NYU in psychophysiology. His distinguished career as an educator included faculty positions at Penn State, University of Missouri, Ohio State University, University of California Irvine and as a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon and many European and Scandinavian institutions. Thayer has used his awareness of the therapeutic phycological and physiological aspects that music can have on our physical and emotional well being. He believes music can be vital to calming the heart rate variability (HRV) of our inner clockwork. To this end, Thayer has continue to be involved with like-minded musicians like akLaff and Robinson as well as artists like George Garzone, Jimmy Cobb and Terrell Stafford, to make music that can be adventurous, beautiful and uplift the listener.
Pheeroan akLaff (photo credit unknown)
Detroit born Pheeroan akLaff is a progressive drummer/percussionist and educator who currently teaches at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. His percussion work has been mostly seen with some of music's more Avant Garde and free jazz players in the business like saxophonists Oliver Lake, Sam Rivers, Henry Threadgill and Anthony Braxton, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and pianists Cecil Taylor, Mal Waldron and Andrew Hill. He believes that music can be a source for giving back to society and a vehicle for making change. There is a spiritual side to this man's music and his connection with the spiritual is woven into the way he interacts to his fellow bandmates when he plays. His intuition operates on another level, raising the art of percussion to an truly interactive art.
aRT consists of twenty improvisations all recorded at ScienSonic Laboratories on January 25th, 2024 as is a piece of art in itself. A beautiful cd package, "Abstract Sculptures Looking at Abstract Paintings, and, if the Truth Be Known, Vice Versa" a piece by Richard M. "Gorman" Powers, ca. 1991, adorns the cover and the inside artwork on this album. Scott takes his art seriously and that carries through into his packaging of the recording.
The music feels spontaneous, with titles that beckons you to attend a visual art gallery. It is twenty different aural pieces of art being presented here, but you are being invited to listen to these creations with an open mind, where the synapses of our brain are being encouraged to make the leap from the aural to the visual. We are asked to suspend our reality for just under one hour that it takes to listen through this demonstration of artistry and free association. If you allow it, you can be immersed, taken away by the creativity and aural images that they create. The titles predominantly include the word abstraction. "Abstract Painting" and "Abstract Sculpture," "Abstraction in Blues" and "Abstract Interlude," and unless you don't yet get the immersion thing there is "Abstract Dance" too.
aRT: akLaff, Robinson and Thayer @ Holyoke Media, Holyoke Mass June 2024
There's the intro, a brief invitation to the show. There are warbling sound sheets that lead to some shimmering cymbal work, and a probing saxophone that leads into a resonant arco bass line that comes to life. Some percussive accents all being added to the picture by akLaff, like colors by a skilled artist's brush on an open canvas.
The music continues, the next piece adding what sounds like a darting Tuba by Robinson and toms and snare skins being pounded in time by akLaff, as the musicians create their version of a choreographed piece of art, "Dancing About Painting." Thayer's string bass is again bowed like a sighing creature introducing a counterpoint to Robinson's bellowing Tuba, a preposterous creature that waddles through the scene with a boisterous authority, and akLaff's intuitive percussive accompaniment together makes this one piece titled "Electrabstraction."
I can't do these pieces justice by allowing my insufficient word descriptions to faithfully capture for you what it is like to experience these free flowing, inspired improvisations for yourself. There is science here, as well as performance artistry and deep spiritualism. You can play this album multiple times and I can assure you that there is a peace and tranquility that emanates from this music. These guys want to transport the listener for a little while to a place where only music like this can. There are cymbals, and gongs, bells and a Chinese transverse flute. There are Sarrusophones and contrabass saxophones, bass marimbas, an alto clarinet, and a string tremoloa. And of course there is a tenor saxophone, a theremin, a string bass, a drum and cymbal set, and and F Tuba. I am sure I missed something on this list, but most of all there is a superb sense of purpose, a sense that this music is healing, spiritual, evocative, exploratory and most of all creative. What more you could possibly ask for? In these times of stress and doubt, supporting sincere art created with conviction and sensitivity like this is surely worth our support.
