Mitch Haupers, Invisible Cities, Original Jazz & Chamber Music

Guitarist-composer Mitch Haupers gives us a nice program of his music on Invisible Cities (Liquid Harmony Music). A good portion of the album is devoted to small group introspective jazz, with Mitch on guitar joined by Bob Mintzer on winds, Alan Pasqua on piano, Darek Oles on bass and Peter Erskine on drums. The other half of the record concentrates on classical chamber works, with added guests that altogether make up a small orchestral chamber ensemble. Both portions of the album work together to give you a full picture of Haupers the artist.

This is Boston-based music. Mitch teaches at Berklee. The jazz sessions are quietly cool with nicely built compositional frameworks and good soloing from all. Haupers has a pristine tone on electric guitar and plays some subtle solos. Mintzer, Pascual and Oles get space to solo, too. The level is high.

For the chamber works Ayn Inserto has arranged the compositions and conducts. Some straddle the jazz-chamber division, being a bit of both. Others are more solidly placed in a classical camp. All are tonal and sophisticated.

Some of it definitely might have been categorized as "third stream" years ago. That term no longer seems as important, because there are so many degrees of intermingling in jazz and classical out there these days that there may be no set norm that could define third stream from its lack. No matter.

The main point here is that Mitch Haupers excels as a very tasteful guitarist and a talented composer in the tonal middle-ground today. The album delights.

Norman Johnson, Get It While You Can

I never make a point, at least to myself, of thinking "I will never review music of x or y category, so if I put on a review CD and it's that, off it goes." If something is good at what it does, then I'll talk about it. There is a point of satiation for certain musics, but that is more cumulative for me. So when I got a copy of guitarist Norman Johnson's CD in the mail and put it on, I listened.

The CD is Get it While You Can (Pacific Coast Jazz 83454). It's Norman on electric and some acoustic, with an instrumental backdrop in the arranged light funk zone. OK so it might be music you hear when you get put on hold talking to some company. But it's miles better than most of that stuff. It is because it never goes into a bad taste zone, and because Norman Johnson can play. There is a bit of the current George Benson in there somewhere. It's bluesy. And when he gets a solo going it is very ear-worthy. And the arrangements are decent.

But mostly it's Johnson the guitarist that makes it worth hearing. He's good. Now I'd like to hear him cut loose in a small group setting. But hey, thanks for your playing Norman!