Guitarist Chris Crocco and Fluid Trio+

Chris Crocco manages to put forward a formidable contemporary post-bop guitar approach that does not sound like anyone else's in any obvious way. That so many have been influenced is common; that someone potentially could be an influence is most definitely not. His tone is pure more than mellow, as it dispenses with the heavy neck-pickup saturation favored traditionally by many mainstreamers, and his line work is well conceived and flowing.

Crocco's Fluid Trio made an album several years ago that I am sorry to have missed. It had the initial trio lineup of Boston tenor titan George Garzone and Francisco Mela on the drums, the latter a Cuban expatriate who has been deservedly getting some attention out there and currently is a member of McCoy Tyner's outfit. The "plus" in the new edition of the Fluid gathering is bassist Peter Slavov, who adeptly brings the time and bottom anchorage to the band's excursions so that they can swing harder and imply more direct harmonic movement, and they take advantage.

So there you have some of foundation knowledge on Chris's latest release, simply titled The Chris Crocco Fluid Trio+ (CPA Records). It's an all-Crocco-originals date, ten of them to be precise, and that turns out to be a very good thing because he writes some engaging and varied vehicles for the band. Everyone gets solo time and it is time well spent; there's a very good mix of feels and swinging grooves. It is Chris Crocco himself that is pivotal to this date however. The group chemistry is palpably present at all points, but Mr. Crocco's sophisticated, sharply biting yet fully linear guitarwork captures and captivates thoughout most of all.

A fine effort . I hope there will be many more from them in the years ahead.

Landsberger and Morello Do Some Cooking with "Hammond Eggs"

The organ trio has been resurging for a while now. If you add a tenor sax to the guitar, organ and drums combination you get the trio plus one, which is resurging no less. Of course just because it is back in fashion does not mean that everything released is equally worthy of acclaim. Formulas that starting getting stale in the later sixties are no less stale today. And if the group doesn't cook, the point of the undertaking could be lost.

I am happy to say that all that is not true with Jermaine Landsberger and Paulo Morello's Hammond Eggs (In & Out 77087-2).

Jermaine plays the Hammond B3 without resorting to much in the way of the Jimmie Smith licks that became so central to the idiom for a time (and still are in some circles). Paulo Morello plays the electric guitar with a nod to the traditional mainstream guitarists that have played in this idiom--but he doesn't cop their licks either. Peter Weniger plays a solid contemporary mainstream tenor; drummer Dejan Terzic runs the gamut successfully from flat-out swing to New Orleans marching funk.

They do a couple of standards, but mostly there are successfully wrought originals, blowing vehicles with some nice angles to keep things interesting. There are for example some very hip lines overtop a "Giant Steps" progression on the number entitled "Gypsy Steps".

Landsberger has most certainly learned from listening to early-mid Larry Young and Charles Earland, or at least his playing is modern in that sense. And with the band in great shape, doing some hip originals, this is a very attractive recording indeed.

H2? OK! "Flights: Volume One"

H2 is Mike Herriott on flugelhorn and Sean Harkness on the guitar. They form a potent duo on their first release Flights: Volume One (no label listed). They are joined by bass and drums on four numbers and trombonist Mark Miller on one; the rest (five more) are pure duets.

First of all they have a sound, both individually and collectively, that is distinctive. Harkness gets a rich, full sound with the electric and what sounds like a touch of chorus. Herriott gets a warm, mellow and burnished tone on his flugel, a little like Kenny Wheeler in that sense. Sean's playing is lucid and nicely projecting through well-chosen lines and particularly effective harmonic voicings; Herriott plays with a laid back, cool demeanor, but he can get some fire going too. The song material is completely comprised of originals. Eight are by Harkness, two by Herriott.

The duets can be ravishingly beautiful and have that extra something to them that gives you pause. There are changes that work well and avoid the hackneyed; melody figures that stand out; improvising that fits each piece well. The numbers with rhythm vary from some up samba to rock-inspired funk. Nothing here is "smooth" in that sort of watered-down sense that term implies to me. There is very good musicality all the way through the disk. I like the duets best because they give the two a chance to interact without a safety net, but it all shows some definite individuality.

Guitarists take note (and those of the wind persuasion as well). Here are two cats that are well worth checking out. I hope they continue on from this auspicious beginning and go on to grow and evolve together as a team.

Ernie Krivda Group in New York

February 20, 2009—Tenor saxist Ernie Krivda has been on the scene for years. If he has not gotten a huge amount of recognition for his talents, it is not for want of consistent excellence in performance. He can be counted on to come through with energized, full-throated improvisations seemingly whenever the opportunity presents itself. His recent Cadence release Live in New York City (Cadence Jazz 1195) is a case in point. Captured by band guitarist Bob Fraser one January night at Sweet Rhythms in NYC, Krivda and company turn in one of those performances where they do not so much think of the recording in progress and let loose with unselfconscious mainstream jazz with hell-for-leather intensity.

The quintet is primed and the audience urges them forward in a really nice set of originals. Trumpeter Dominick Farinacci and aforementioned guitarist Fraser contribute first-rate solos, and Krivda insistently brings out his exuberant, extroverted note-streaming at its best. He has the hard lyricism of a Coltrane, but his own sound and musical vocabulary. This is a band on one of those nights where it all comes together. You’ll wish you had been there. Check the Cadence site (www.cadencebuilding.com) for more information.

The Stryker/Slagle Band Crafts a "Keeper"

Guitarist Dave Stryker, alto-soprano adept Steve Slagle...they are all about keeping at it. Tomorrow marks the release of their fifth album, Keeper (Panorama) and it has that fully blossomed sound inside the pocket and upside your head. Here are two players that work together in a most simpatico way. The crack rhythm section of Jay Anderson, bass, and Victor Lewis on the drums gives the band an excellent push that brings out the best in the two frontliners.

Keeper underscores that the contemporary mainstream of jazz, when done by the right people, has vivid life and that exceptional ability to attract lots of listeners. But of course not just any band does that. The Styker/Slagle band does though, for sure.

There's a deep sense of convinction in the performances on this album. Dave Stryker is flawless, exciting, immediately somehow familiar in his thoroughgoing boppish swinging without sounding like anyone's clone. And the same applies to Steve Slagle. Jay Anderson is a model for this sort of session and gets off some nice solo work too. And Victor Lewis is a drummer who has been at the heart of the scene for so many years for a reason. He makes great time seem effortless, which of course it ultimately is not at all. This is a band that comprises four fully developed artists united in the group effort.

Nine nicely turned originals by Stryker or Slagle are set off by one of Monk's most precious compositional jewels, "Ruby My Dear."

Keep in mind I have nothing to gain by liking this or any other album. As an independent, I like what I please. So when I say I like this recording very much I am not taking it to the bank but you can! Those who dig the contemporary jazz guitar will find Dave doing great work here. And regardless this is a band at the top of their powers.