Adam Lane Quartet, Oh Freedom

The Adam Lane Quartet, as I alluded to in the review of the first disk several weeks ago (type "Lane" in the search box above for that), recorded not one but two sets of traditional roots songs in 2009. The first, originally intended as a demo, came out on Cadence Jazz, and the second, Oh Freedom (CIMP 392), I take on today. This one has the full dynamic sonarity typical of Cadence-CIMP productions. In fact it is an especially good one for that, with climaxes in dynamics well defined by the uncompressed acoustics.

It is the same great band, with Adam on bass, Avram Fefer on tenor, the late Roy Campbell on trumpet and flugel and Vijay Anderson on drums. As with the first, this is not Lane going traditional as much as it is his respectful nod to the roots, the foundations of jazz. The song are arranged well to frame the melodies/structures in a way that enables the quartet to blow freely and modernly. It certainly comes off exceptionally well. There is no feeling of cut and paste here; the songs naturally lend themselves to Adam's treatment and the solos are of a piece with the tonality of the songs.

No matter what tune, from the folk rooted "This Train", to the spiritual "Go Down Moses" or the haunting ballad "Wayfaring Stranger", everything works toward a measured free blowing session. With players of this caliber of course that is what gives it two-dimensions-in-one.

Once again our recent loss of trumpet great Roy Campbell makes these sessions especially poignant, as by definition they become some of his last sessions. He sounds great. Avram Fefer does too. Adam as you expect has a presence in his ensemble and solo roles that remind you what a monumental bassist he is. Vijay Anderson makes a virtually ideal teammate too, swinging, fired-up and subtle as needed.

There's no flagging from cut to cut, so the 70-minutes of the full program goes by quickly and happily.

Of course a parallel of these two albums with the classic Mingus Blues and Roots comes to mind. The similarity lies mostly in the presence of those roots and the gesture of recognition, since Mingus adapted his own music to the roots idea. There have been others too. But none of them have quite the chemistry of modern blowing and root tunes the way these Adam Lane sets do. The blowing is great and attuned to the tunes in a special way. It's a particular pleasure to hear this one as I surely will many times before I head, I hope, for those golden gates!

Adam Lane's Blue Spirit Band

Adam Lane isn't only a superb bassist. That should be enough. But he is also a leader of real strength. You get that today with his album Adam Lane's Blue Spirit Band (Cadence Jazz 1231) which was waxed in 2009 but released last year. The mood is elated, exuberent, and the repertoire is the roots, blues, spirituals, folk songs. That doesn't mean he's "gone traditional" any more than the Art Ensemble did on Message to Our Folks. It means that respect for the past combines with what playing cutting-edge jazz is to these artists.

When I first listened to this one and then put it in sequence for later listens and review, Roy Campbell was still with us and we had no idea, no warning that he was going to leave us. But he did, suddenly, shockingly, gone. But here he is on this record, blazing fire, sounding excellent, a trumpet at the top of today, now a memory. So RIP Roy Campbell. This is as good a place as any to hear his last flowering.

And then the rest of the band is at the top, too. Avram Fefer on tenor, volcanic and impassioned. Vijay Anderson turns in a very together performance on the drums, as you can count on. Adam plays bass like you know he can. And the arrangements turn these old hoary classics into the now of today.

"House of the Rising Sun"? Yeah, and "Peace Like A River", "Old Time Religion" and a bunch of others, done with all the heat and tensile strength of the music today. There's another release on CIMP I'll be covering shortly. But get this one; pay respects to Roy Campbell but do the same for all of these artists. Someday we'll all be gone and we need to appreciate the art while we--and they--are here. You'll be getting one hell of a nice recording too!