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
The Year 2021 stubbornly evolved into what is a post-pandemic year for most of us. Miraculous and effective vaccinations effectively conquered the likelihood of getting seriously ill, or even worse, becoming a casualty from the mutating Covid virus. At least the science seems to have it at bay for now. Isolation, masks, and limiting traveling all added to our safety. For artists in all disciplines of the performing arts- music, theatre, dance, film & fine visual arts- the chance to meet safely with collaborators, to record with colleagues, or even to perform to a live and encouraging audience was practically nil and lingered on for an interminably long period. The shutdown was dreadful for most artists. The creative juices are often stimulated by the chance to interact, collaborate, inspire with peers, and receive valuable feedback that is best emotionally transmitted by the visceral response of a live audience. Was this pandemic going to be responsible for the total evisceration of the arts? Fortunately, many artists found the isolation that the angst that Covid brought on over the last year and one half became a chance to dig deeper into their creative wellspring. Strangely, we were all the beneficiaries of that self-imposed period that allowed some deep reflection, some serious reevaluation, and in the case of musicians some inspired creativity and brilliance in new music.
As the year of 2021 ebbs to its close, it is a tradition of those of us who review jazz and contemporary music, to select some of the music in the genre that we have heard and found worth noting over this past year. It is impossible to pick a "best of list" since it is a totally subjective opinion and certainly restricted to what this reviewer has been able to carefully listen to over this past year. Acknowledging those inherent limitations I humbly offer this one person's ideas of notable, creative, and often promising music of 2021. I also found some rewarding reissues and historical recordings that are definitely worth a listen. I list the music in no particular order. I know there is much more music that is worth your serious attention, but I hope my list helps you navigate and hopefully introduce to you the plethora of deserving artists who have created some magical music this year. Happy Holidays to all. Listen and have fun.
Reissues and Historical Releases:
Roseanne Vitro: Listen Hereoriginally recorded in 1982
There is something very special, very visceral when a listener is given the opportunity to share a solo musical performance. It can be one of the most personal and intimate experiences that a musician can offer to his audience. Marc Johnson was said to have found inspiration to do his latest solo bass album Overpassafter listening to fellow bass virtuoso Dave Holland's solo bass album Emerald Tearsfrom 1977. Johnson's beautiful offeringOverpasson ECM records, like Holland's, will clearly become another must-have inspiration to any musician who wants to tackle the formidable challenge of making a viable solo offering on such a beautiful but unforgiving instrument.
Marc Johnson photo credit Jos Knapean
The album is bare, naked, and yet resplendent in its musical sensitivity and personal declarations. The bassist relies only on his skills, his instrument, and an internal compass that leads him to choose and interpret his musical selections so deftly. The album is a little over forty-three minutes and includes eight compositions that range from Eddie Harris’ stirring “Freedom Jazz Dance” to Miles Davis’ “Nardis” and Alex North’s moving “Love Theme from Spartacus,” the latter two made famous as standards in the Bill Evans’ repertoire. Johnson includes five of his own compositions that are both beautiful and deeply personal, “Samurai Fly,” “Life of Pai, ”And Strike Each Tuneful String,” “Yin and Yang,” and “Whorled, Whirled World.”
Bassist Marc Johnson was born in the heartland of America, Omaha, Nebraska, and grew up in Texas. He attended the then North Texas State University and was part of the school’s acclaimed One O’clock Lab Band with fellow alumni keyboardist Lyle Mays and drummer Steve Houghton. Mays and Houghton were enlisted into Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd, and later it was Mays who recommended Johnson to join Herman’s band. Mays stayed eight months with Herman before leaving to join with guitarist Pat Metheny and forming the Pat Metheny Group. Johnson’s stay with Herman brought him to NYC where an opportunity to sit in with the pianist Bill Evans resulted in his joining Evans trio in 1978. Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera would be the pianist’s last trio until his death in 1980.
By his own admission, Johnson was young and had limited experience when he joined Evans’ trio, but he had a fluidity, velocity, and melodic sensitivity that captured Evans’ attention. After Evans’ death, Johnson had to find a way to expand his growth and continue in the musical direction that he had only begun to explore in his brief time with the pianist. Instead of continuing in a piano-based configuration, Johnson looked toward forming a group that could change his musical pallet, expanding on the group's musical possibilities. In 1996 he formed the influential Bass Desireswith dual guitarists John Scofield and Bill Frisell and the drummer Peter Erskine. He also became part of guitarist John Abercrombie’s Trio, again with Peter Erskine in the mid-eighties and through 2007. One of my favorite albums of this group was Novemberreleased in 1993. Johnson’s proclivity and skill for working with guitarists led him to be sought after by other notable guitarists including Pat Metheny, Ben Monder, Pat Martino, Ralph Towner, and Wolfgang Muthspiel.
Johnson’s proficiency on his instrument led him to work with a rainbow of musical artists including pianist Enrico Pieranunzi and saxophonists Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, Charles Llyod, Michael Brecker, John Surman, and drummers Jack DeJohnette, Paul Motion, Joey Baron and Armenian percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan to name a few.
It was in 1988 when Johnson first worked with his present wife, Brazilian pianist Eliane Elias. It was an Erskine project titled Motion Poet. A few years later he was asked to join Elias’ group and their musical and personal compatibility led to marriage in 1999. It has been a lasting relationship for over thirty years. His musical priorities since joining Elias once again changed back to working with a pianist. Johnson said in a Jazz Times interview from 2020 “My Musical choices ... have been dictated by prioritizing my work with Eliane…It’s wonderful that we can be together and play music together."" For me, it’s been the best of both worlds.”
Johnson’s focus on his work with Elias has come with a greater appreciation for the important influence of Brazilian music. He has won two Grammys for co-producing Elias’ Made in Brazil(2016) and Dance of Time (2017.)
With all his achievements, Johnson’s work on Overpass is a welcome addition to his personal body of work. The album opens with the pulsing Eddie Harris composition “Freedom Jazz Dance,” an often-overlooked gem of free spirit. He does an incredible job of maintaining pace with throbbing pedal point and dances out the melody with liquid precision and enviable precise speed. It is no surprise that even alone, the bass in the right hands can really swing.
“Nardis” is a Miles Davis composition. The title was created by Davis reversing the last name of his friend Ben Sidran and was written for a 1958 Cannonball Adderley session Portrait of Cannonball. The tune was well explored by Bill Evans’ last trio. Here the bassist, perhaps under the spell of Evans’ preoccupation with the song’s many intriguing iterations, explores the composition on his own terms. Johnson uses his sonorous bass to create a drone. He juxtaposes a musical path through the sparse melody with his rich pizzicato facility and his inventive interpretation. His tone is deep, warm, and resonates with a sustain that hangs in the air like a warm gust from a sirocco. The bassist creates an impressive meditative chant that will not be forgotten.
Johnson’s beautifully playful “Samurai Fly” is a reimagining of what he originally released as “Samurai Hew-Haw” on his Bass Desiresalbum from 1986. Here, without the distinctive dual voices of guitarists John Scofield and Bill Frisell, the bassist re-creates this East meets West song. He gently overdubs himself playing a dynamic lead on a slightly dissonant, almost buzzing arco. It at times reminds me of an Americana-style fiddle-like approach and he accompanies himself with an anchoring rhythmic pizzicato. The song conjures up fanciful visions of a militant Samurai fly that is buzzing defiantly to this east meets west war song. Priceless.
“Love Theme from Spartacus” was a theme from the Stanley Kubrick film Spartacus starring Kirk Douglas back in 1960 and was written by composer Alex North. Yuseff Lateef was apparently the first jazz musician to see the potential of this song in the genre, recording it on his oboe in 1961 on his album Eastern Sounds. Bill Evans had purportedly gone to see the film several times and was taken by the beauty of the music. There is no doubt he made the song an important part of his repertoire, most famously being memorialized from his solo album Conversations with Myself from 1963.
Marc Johnson finds this moving piece of music the perfect vehicle for his own singularly personal interpretation of this love ballad. It’s hard to imagine such a seminal love theme could be so well expressed by the single voice of a virtuosic double bassist, but Johnson makes it his own. He starts with several multiple-string plucks that set the stage. The sparse ringing of his decaying notes on the repeating theme resonates with sincerity and his playing barely waivers from the truth of the music’s original iconic essence.
Johnson's composition “Life of Pai” is a dirge-like song that he has dedicated to the passing of both his father and his father-in-law. Sadly both transitioned within months of each other. “Pai” is Portuguese for father and thus " Life of Father." The music utilizes a somber descending feel, sometimes using multiple strings in tandem, and Johnson creates a solemnity that might be considered a sacred requiem.
“And Strike Each Tuneful String” is based on a folk song, “Wonderous Love,” that Johnson's mother used to sing in a church choir. Using these personal recollections- tiebacks to his life experiences and his upbringing- makes his music a living, breathing, DNA-like part of his creative process. You hear the bassist building on ideas, motifs that inspire him, and he expands on them like a meditation that he follows religiously to see what develops. During the process, other ideas emerge, other patterns are introduced, further extrapolations are developed and the music expands organically. Johnson creates a rapidly repeated pattern on his bass that hums, whirls, and vibrates like a turbine in action. There is a visceral connection to the turbulence he creates on his bass patterns that can draw you in, hypnotize you.
“Yin and Yang” is a song developed by Johnson when he was working on experimenting with the sonic aspects of his custom-made double bass made by the Brazilian luthier Paulo Gomes. In his interview with Bass Magazine, which was so valuable to understanding the bassist's thoughts about this album, Johnson said “I got into this strumming thing one day and I said ‘Wow, listen to that.’ I put my ear down in front of the instrument and hit all the strings-when you hear all the harmonics bouncing off each other, it’s really cool.”
Johnson strumming created this drone-like, harmonically rich background that has drum-like qualities. He overdubbed his Eastern-influenced arco to create this contemplative composition. Take a seat in a comfortable recliner, grab a set of good headphones and just lose yourself into this one. Guaranteed to lower your stress and blood pressure and leave you at peace for a little over four precious minutes.
The closing composition “Whorled, Whirled World” has a minimalist form that Johnson created in admiration of such composers like Philip Glass and Steve Reich. The bassist opens with a repeating, cyclical pattern that creates a whirl-like rush. He changes between time signatures without ever losing the flow. He minimally accentuates the whirlwind with improvisational accents that he creates in the moment. There is a feeling that more than one person is creating this gyroscopic-like storm, but it is only Johnson and his marvelous instrument. He modulates his velocity at times and eventually allows the music to fade out at the coda. He creates the impression that this energy-charged musical pattern has a perpetual life all its own.
Another Land Dave Holland, Kevin Eubanks, and Obed Calvaire, Edition Records
For the last fifty years, the bassist Dave Holland has been at the forefront of traditional, modern, avant-garde/free, and fusion jazz. Born in 1946 in Staffordshire, England, by the age of twenty, Holland was a fixture as a reliable and gifted bassist at London’s Ronnie Scott’s. He was seen there by Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones and was fortuitously enlisted by the trumpeter to replace the departing bassist Ron Carter in his progressive quintet of the late sixties. During his stay he was recorded on Davis’ Filles de Kilimanjaro (1968), In A Silent Way (1969), and Bitches Brew (1970). With this exposure came opportunities, but this immensely talented bassist did not settle into a predictable or safe career pattern.
Holland had a two-year stint with the Davis’ quintet, at that time including keyboardist Chick Corea, drummer Tony Williams (later Jack DeJohnette), and saxophonist Wayne Shorter. The bassist joined a short but potent progressive, openly free-swinging group titled Circlewith Corea, reedman/composer Anthony Braxton, and drummer Barry Altschul. Corea departed the band, but Holland’s relationship with Braxton created lasting relationships with other progressive musicians including Canadian trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and saxophonist Sam Rivers. Holland composed and recorded his first release as a leader, the impressive Conference of the Birdson ECM with Rivers, Braxton and Altschul. All Music’s Steve Huey called this record “…one of the all-time avant-garde jazz classics” and Rolling Stone noted, “… it only gets more impressive as time passes.”
In the early seventies, Holland joined forces with guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Jack DeJohnette forming Gateway. The group had plenty of fire, and could alsohave a more pensive, ethereal approach to music.
Holland’s collaborations found him crossing paths with a who’s who of the music world. Besides those listed above, he has played with Stan Getz, Kenny Barron, Thelonious Monk, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, John Surman, John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, and Dave Liebman to name just a few. Throughout his career he has constantly expanded his palette to create exciting music, utilizing changing formats ranging the gamut from solo to big band forms to follow his musical muse.
I was fortunate to last see Holland and his impressive world music-inspired trio Crosscurrents at Emory back in 2017. This trio included Holland, saxophonist Chris Potter, and percussion master Zakir Hussain. In my opinion, the east meets west album Good Hopewas one of 2019's best recordings.
Holland's latest release came out in March of this year, again on Edition Records, and is titled Another Land. This music is a powerful musical statement. it is a confirmation of the musical breadth and depth of Holland as an artist who can never be pigeonholed or labeled by a specific genre or style. This offering reunites Holland with the excellent, in some ways underappreciated, guitarist Kevin Eubanks and the stalwart drummer Obed Calvaire. Respected reviewer, Will Layman, said in Pop Matters,Another Land was “…the best new Holland recording in a long time.” Whether you are hip to Holland’s body of work or not, Another Land is one smokin’ album and is sure to delight.
Kevin Eubanks, Dave Holland and Obed Calvaire (photo credit unknown)
Another Land resurrects the fusion guitar trio format that Holland previously helped create with Gateway. Here, Holland is a more seasoned player who allows the compositions to speak for him. He still plays with impressive verve and allows his bandmates, especially Eubanks, yards of room to create, but there is a real cohesiveness on this album. The guitar is often out front here, but the bass and drums are equal co-conspirators that perform more organically, allowing the music to naturally unfold and blossom.
Kevin Eubanks first recorded with Holland back in 1990 onExtensionswith Steve Coleman on alto and Marvin “Smitty” Smith on drums. The album was Downbeat’s 1990 Album of the Year. Eubanks would go on to establish a more noticeable name for himself as the personable leader of theTonight Show Bandfrom 1995 to 2010. Eubanks has since released several albums likeZen FoodandThe Messengerwhere his extraordinary, uniquely sinewy guitar playing is testimony to his status as one of this era's best guitarists.
On Another Land, “Grave Walker,” opens with an infectious electric bass line joined by the interweaving playing of Eubanks' slippery, serpentine guitar and anchored by Calvaire’s responsive but subtle drum work. There is a funky, rhythmic flow that anchors the music and forms an armature on which Eubanks explores and expands. Holland’s rich bass solo is always a treat to hear as it throbs, and sways, with Calvaire expertly propulsive.
The title cut, “Another Land,” has its own infectious bassline. Holland's double bass resonates, the rhythmic grab he establishes is a signature part of the bassist’s modus operandi. Eubanks overdubs his delicate acoustic with his sleek electric guitar lines that mesh gloriously. Eubank’s taste is gorgeous and restrained, stunningly sensitive, and superb. Holland's solo is a sonic splendor that combines creative ideas with wonderful tonal acuity. About halfway through the duo creating a dream-like landscape, Calvaire’s brushwork is heard ever so unobtrusively. This song can simply hypnotize you into a Zen-like state, a musical meditation.
“Gentle Warrior” is driven by a Holland ostinato bass line that morphs into a more robust melody line. Eubanks and Calvaire walk a conjoined line of sympathetic interaction until Holland produces a rousing double bass solo that throbs like a heart on adrenaline. Eubank’s guitar solo is explosive, modulating, a little frantic, and at times Hendrix-like, but always retains that watery, slinky sound that is all-Eubanks. Supporting the music with a subdued but driving accompaniment throughout, Calvaire at the coda provides his own cadenced drum feature that is, syncopated and inventive by this superb trap master.
There is a lot in this album to relish. The fusion-like “20-20” opens with a deeply resonating bowed bass from Holland and a gentle guitar accompaniment. The music then erupts into a heavy, almost metal-like theme. Holland plays some generous solos on double bass that are expansive and energized. Eubanks’ mastery of his guitar is impressive. He can wail, serpentinely modulate or embellish with delicately fingered filigree notes to the music. These three artists are so well matched with talent and can trace each other’s serpentine lines with effortless aplomb.
The gorgeous “Quiet Time” features Kevin Eubanks’solo guitar and is a testament to the guitarist’s ability to embellish on a beautiful theme unaccompanied. He can capture the listener unaccompanied, like many of the greats, with his tasteful virtuosity. Guitar lovers will cherish this masterful display of the man's sensitive side.
The rocker of this album is “Mashup,” a fusion, rock-driven, atomization. Calvaire’s drums dance and Holland’s electric bass punctuates with what sounds like a Stanley Clarke-like attack. Eubanks shreds in the most outer limits guitar work of the album. Eubanks has a wellspring of ideas and they all unfold with rapid-fire accuracy and magical slickness. Calvaire's fusillade of drum work at the coda is like a force of nature eruption.
“Passing Time” is a slow-paced, soulful saunter that leads off with a catchy, signature Holland bass line. All of Holland's compositions utilize unique and at times complex changes that simply raise the level of the songs to so much more than just catchy grooves. The trio uses the armature of the music and expands it to a vehicle of pure improvisational creation. Eubanks Latin-inspired guitar work sends the listener to another place and Holland’s solo is a lesson on how many rhythmic techniques on the bass strings can be used to be expressive.
The opening of “The Village” is a study on how creative musicians can evoke an aural scene by skillfully mixing sounds, not unlike a fine painter who mixes an array of colors on his palette to achieve his desired effect. Holland sets the feel with his ostinato bass lines, and Calvaire accentuates with his skillful rim and skin playing. Eubanks expertly modulates on his guitar and the three go off into the daylight toward the Village. Eventually, Eubanks’ guitar lines punch into the opening ahead with authority, before Holland’s bass seems to lead the group into a calmer clearing ahead. The music elevates the tension with Eubanks’ willy guitar lines and harshly accentuated chording. The music then raises the excitement with a series of climbing arpeggios and an explosive drum eruption by Calvaire at the coda.
This excellent album ends with “Bring It Back Home.” What better way than to end with a funky, blues-tinged shuffle that lowers the temperature of the set and introduces an overall feeling of contentment at returning home. A sonorant double bass in the hands of a master like Holland is the perfect vehicle to give this an authentic blues feel. Eubanks’ slithery guitar is a whole new level of funk and grit and the guitarist never ceases to find his own way of expression and surprise. Calvaire is like a reliable pacemaker, all though capable of volcanic flares, on this one stays the course in this classic groove. Amen.
The vibraphonist Steve Nelson is one of those musicians who
has been discreetly plying his craft over the years, most frequently with
groups led by the pianist Mulgrew Miller and the bassist Dave Holland. On his
latest album Brothers Under the Sun,
a title that makes reference to the friendship and astrological affinity Nelson had with
the pianist Mulgrew Miller (they were both born under the sign of Leo), Nelson selects
a repertoire of songs that are either composed by late pianist or are strongly associated
with him. The result is a rewarding collection of music that honor Miller's legacy by perfroming these songs with a joyful reverance, consummate
professionalism and an unerring sense of swing.
The rhythm section of Peter Washington and Lewis Nash assure
a skilled continuity of spirit for this endeavor, as they, with Nelson played
on several recordings with Mr. Miller. The wild card here is the pianist Danny
Grissett- who has played previously with this group under the leadership of trumpeter
Jeremy Pelt- who does an admirable job of injecting his own creativity into
this homage, including his own composition dedicated to Mr. Miller, the closer “Melody
for Mulgrew.”
The album leads off with a sauntering “The More I See You”
which Nelson plays faithfully in deference to the melody, an approach favored
by Mr. Miller when he would play ballads. Nelson’s tone has a warm
resonance that comes from the measured and deliberate attack of his mallets. Grissett
incorporates some of Miller’s bluesy/gospel feel, while still fluidly traversing
across the keys in a modern approach. The group pulses along with
Washington’s warm, throbbing bass lines leading the way. Nash, a master swinger,
knows how to subtly prod the group, propulsing them forward with just the right mixture of press
rolls and cymbal splashes.
The Afro-Latin beat of Miller’s vibrant “Eastern Joy Dance,”
allows the group a more fluid platform on which to improvise. Nelson’s mallets
glide over the bars in a glissando of notes. Grissett is more angular in his
approach here, as Washington and Lewis create the rhythmic rumble.
“Grew’s Tune” is one of Mr. Miller’s most memorable compositions
and these guys do it royally. The lock-step, unison playing of Grissett and
Nelson is coolly intuitive. Grissett’s solo is a miniature of style, before
Washington offers his own impressively effervescent solo.
“Soul-Leo,” -a reference to the astrological sign that binds
Miller and Nelson together forever- has its own special swagger. Washington’s
bass guiding the tune like a beacon in the night. Nelson and Grissett once
again play deftly in unison; both offer invigorated solos as Nash pushes the
song along effectively behind Grissett’s repeating left-hand phrases to the
coda.
The Rogers and Hart standard “It Never Entered My Mind,” is introduced
by Nelson with a gently resonating vibes solo, after which the group picks up at a
languished pace. The album continues with the Brazilian influenced Miller composition
“Samba D’ Blue,” the bright, uplifting Nelson title composition “Brothers Under the
Sun,” and another two Miller compositions “For Those Who Do” and
the angular, Monkish “New Wheels,” where the group is at its dynamic best. The
set ends with pianist Grissett’s persuasive homage, the buoyant and deferential
“Melody for Mulgrew.” Here is a video of Nelson with Miller from 2011:
Nate Smith is one of those modern drummers, on the scene, making music that speaks to the present while still having a foundation in the
past. His drums have been the backbone of groups led by bassist Dave Holland
and saxophonist Chris Potter. The two journeymen play it back here with
appearances on three of the albums twelve compositions.
I had the opportunity to see Smith recently while he was on
tour with the vocalist Jose James. Smith was the sole musician backing James
and the two did a commendable job recreating the complexities of James’ studio
album Life in a Time of Madness. The
act required Smith to seamlessly mix his live drum work in tandem with some
trap and dub step canned music from the album.
On Smith’s latest Kinfolk
Postcards from Everywherewe get the best of both
worlds. A hip, contemporary compilation of music that has sophistication and
creativity for the most demanding, while maintaining a connection to groove and
melody that will grab even the most nonchalant listener. The core group is made up of Smith on drums,
synth sounds and Fender Rhodes and providing most of the cd’s compositions-
either solo or in collaboration; Kris Bowers is the principal pianist and
Rhodes player, Fima Ephron is on electric bass, Jeremy Most on guitars and
Jaleel Shaw on alto and soprano saxophones.
The music undulates freely between compositions, with
Smith’s drums being singularly unifying element. For the most part it is gentle
easy listening music that entertains you without creating a lot of tension and
bombast. But for the careful listener there is a wealth of nuance that is
joyful to the ear and up lifting to the spirit.
The album starts off with the wistful “Wish You Were Here” and
plows right into the pulsing “Skip Skip,” a rhythmic ode with guest artists
Dave Holland on bass, Lionel Loueke on guitar and Michael Mayo on vocals and
percussion.
“Bounce Parts 1” starts off
with a funky beat that folds into a complex dual horn line with guest Chris
Potter on tenor and Jaleel Shaw on alto. Guitarist Jeremy Most lays on some funky
licks to the mix and Ephron’s bass is elastic but firmly grounded. “Bounce Part
II” changes to an airy cosmic groove that offers the ebullient tenor man Potter
some room to expand one’s consciousness, and he does so with an earnest solo
that elevates impressively.
As this is an album about a traveling musician and his
recollections on the road, Smith often finds himself nostalgically thinking
about home and loved ones while on tour. He interjects sound bites of
conversations with his mother and his father on the two sections “Mom: Postcards
from Detroit/ Floyd/Salem” and “Dad: Postcards from Isaac Street.” The album is
touchingly dedicated to the memory of Smith’s father Dr. Theodore R. “Mike”
Smith.
The lyrical “Retold” is a repeated theme to which Smith has added
some rich, choir-like vocal overlays by Michael Mayo. Kris Bowers adds a
strikingly sensitive piano solo. All the while orchestrator Smith adds rhythmic
variety and percussive touches that bring this one skillfully together.
On “Disenchantment: The Weight,” Smith and company
introduces a lush Bowers string arrangement to the enchanting voice of Amma
Whatt. Ephron’s tactile bass lines and Smith military cadenced drum rolls
create the sturdy backbeat of this composition until the shimmering end. Whatt
is also heard on “Morning and Allison,” a new voice to me, she shows great
promise.
A probing Dave Holland bass line starts off “Spinning Down.”
One by one the instruments enter, with Loueke’s
guitar delicately making an appearance as Bowers plays hushed chords in faded
background. Shaw’s wispy soprano enters for
another layer of color and Bowers once again gets a chance to show his
pianistic prowess. About three quarters
through guitarist Loueke offers a synth-like solo that is inspired. Ephron and
Smith have a kinetic connection that is supple but always tightly aligned.
Nate Smith
The breathy voice of Gretchen Parlato is featured on Smith
and Whatt’s composition “Pages.” Despite
the nostalgic sentiment of the lyrics, Smith’s orchestration is bright, uplifting
and unapologetic. There is a Bruce Hornsby quality to this one, with Most’s
fingerpicking, Bowers celeste sounding piano and Shaw’s airy soprano solo all
adding to the vibe. To his credit Smith never
lets himself get lulled too deeply into a sappy prettiness, before he peppers
the song with his own subtle rhythmic diversity. “From Here -Interlude” and “Small
Moves -Interlude” are probably improvisational forays by the band that feel
like brief ideas that the band hasn’t fully fleshed out yet.
“Spiracles” features the guitar work of the talented Adam Rodgers and has
Bowers using a vibraphone like sound from his keyboards. Smith utilizes a
shuffling, agonizingly slow beat while Shaw and Bowers play an undulating
melody line. With the pace of this one, Rodgers solo is the epitome of understatement.
The final song titled “Home Free” (for Peter Joe,) is a
ballad. From its poignant string introduction, this song carries a special
meaning for Smith. The drummer employs a string quartet that he has arranged as
the band plays this with almost dirge-like solemnity. Shaw’s alto has a
delicate air and Bowers’ piano is a deeply reverent. It is apparent from this
heartfelt music that for Smith home is where the heart is.
