Michael Feinberg, The Elvin Jones Project

Anyone who has explored Elvin Jones's seminal presence on the modern jazz scene in some depth, live or in recorded form, eventually realizes that an important component of his sound, his groove, his structured sort of freedom, depends upon his interaction with key bassists. His way of taking it further depended on the bedrock of intuitive and perhaps explicit interactive roles that Elvin and the bass players developed in his groups over time.

Young bassist Michael Feinberg in The Elvin Jones Project (Sunnyside 1325) has assembled a first-rate quintet to pay tribute to the master and also highlight his musical relationship with bassists Jimmy Garrison, Richard Davis, Gene Perla, George Mraz and Dave Holland.

Those who care about such things will hear the results in those terms, at least part of the time, because Feinberg and drumming master Billy Hart achieve something of that creative tension that Elvin and his bassists achieved. At the same time all lovers of modern jazz should appreciate what is going on in this set in a wider sense, for it is music of immediate impact.

Feinberg chose his musicians wisely for this project. Hart has the expanded swing feel that is certainly related to Elvin's on the set, but of course he is a master drummer in his own right. Tim Hagens on trumpet, George Garzone on tenor, and Leo Genovese on piano have their own take on the sort of music that Elvin and the Trane/post-Trane players have played with such creativity and conviction over the years. As an added plus, guitarist Alex Wintz fits in well on his two guest appearances.

Like the best of Elvin's outfits this is a group at doesn't just solo over rhythm, the soloing and rhythm-ing are intertwined in involved ways, ways that define the music. And everybody sounds at home and in very active sympathy with the music at hand. Feinberg shows himself a most excellent bassist, up there with some heavyweights and holding his own.

The song choices fit perfectly. There are a couple of Elvin gems, a Feinberg original, then Trane's "Miles Mode," some goodies by Jones sidemen Grossman and Foster and the Trane-Jones associated ballad "Nancy with the Laughing Face."

Of course the joy of this musical outing is countered by the recurring realization that Elvin is no longer with us. A great man, a great musician that changed everything....I'm sure he would have dug this record. Maybe he's somewhere up there digging it now.

John Abercrombie Quartet, Within A Song

I don't suspect I need to tell readers of this blog that John Abercrombie has been a major force, a major influence on jazz guitarists since sometime in the '70s. I listen to many new guitarists in the round of reviews I do, and I have become more impressed in recent years with just how influential he has become.

But as with many great artists there is no ONE John Abercrombie. He changes as he sees fit, both over time and from project to project. So his latest, Within A Song (ECM 2254) has a way about it quite different than, say, the first Gateway album he did with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette way back when. Yet it is still Mr. Abercrombie that comes through, all that he is as a musical artist, and what he plays here has some relation of course to his earlier output. Perhaps that is pretty obvious.

The new album puts John with tenor original Joe Lovano, bass master Drew Gress and Joey Baron, a drummer of great depth, fire and subtlety, depending on the project.

This is an album of standards and a few Abercrombie originals. It is music in an ultra-laid-back mode, a cool sort of approach. That doesn't mean that the players aren't reaching back for inspiration and well-conceived improvisations. They are.

Abercrombie has evolved his tone so that at the moment it is unmistakably him, as always, but so mellow as to seem to be closer on first listen to a Jim Hall than ever. Yet what he plays is all Abercrombie, all the time. And even his tone has a telling Ambercrombian fullness and twist. At any rate he is in top form and must be heard with some concentration to be appreciated. Lovano sounds great too as you might expect. Gress and Baron hit more lightly but no less profoundly than usual. And the whole thing swings big!

It's an album that reminds us why John Abercrombie is such a force today. And it's a great listen too!

Jacob Deaton, Tribulation

What we have on hand today is guitarist Jacob Deaton's album Tribulation (self released). I don't have a press sheet with this one, so I don't have much in the way of background. The music speaks though.

Jacob Deaton plays some worthy lines coming out of a fir-ey mainstream thing. His band may not be filled with names you necessarily know, but they can do what they set out to do. It's Akeem Marable on alto, Nick Rosen, piano, Craig Shaw, bass, and Justin Chesarek on drums.

The rhythm section cooks, Akeem and Rick can do some soloing that is up there, and the compositions give the band some good blowing vehicles.

Where there's smoke, there's fire. And there's fire. Jacob is quite generous, giving all the band members the time to express themselves. You end up with a collective conflagration playing some top-notch hard-bop and beyond. So get some ear time with this and I think you'll find no regrets on that score.

John Scofield, A Moment's Peace: Sco' Goes the Ballad Route

No artist should feel obligated to follow a set of dictates of what he or she should cover for repertoire. Cover standards, pop, or don't. It's a matter of what works best for the artist at a particular point in the music. John Scofield, a guitar-playing institution in the jazz realm for so long, felt the need to express himself with a set of ballads and gentle music. A Moment's Peace (Emarcy) came out late last month to that end. It shows you what a master improviser and an excellent quartet can do when they work their way inside a set of songs and get into what makes the music tick.

So it's Scofield with Larry Golding on piano and organ, Scott Coley on bass and Brian Blade at the drums. It turns out that everyone has embraced the music, tuned themselves finely and honed in on the beauty and power of the material. In so doing they have lost none of the artistry that makes then jazz musicians of the first rank. It's almost to the guitar quartet what Coltrane's album Ballads was for the famed tenor quartet. Scofield bends and soul-phrases his way through each gem. A late-night, after-hours quiet intensity prevails, like the audience has gone home and there are only a few friends and the musicians to get inside the songs.

Lennon & McCartney's "I Will," the perennial "I Want to Talk ABout You," "I Loves You Porgy," these are the heavy-hitting standards. Scofield sounds totally inspired by it all. Goldings, Colley and Blade get on the same beam and they are off. It's a monument to Scofield's depth of feeling and nuance of expression. A masterwork of Scofieldism at its best and most profound.

Do not hesitate to get with this one. It has it!

"The Other Parade" by Bassdrumbone: Helias, Hemingway, Anderson

Bassist Mark Helias, drummer Gerry Hemingway and trombonist Ray Anderson played together around 30 years ago. Since then (and before then too) they have racked up scads of kudos through their many recordings and appearances. You either know that already or you don't. Regardless, their new collaboration as Bassdrumbone, The Other Parade (Clean Feed 223) will get you up to speed in a hurry.

It's music that is both avant and in the jazz tradition. You hear echoes of NOLA parades and you hear the sound of jazz today.

Each player is an exclamation point in the sense that they have given their respective instruments their own individual identity and can and do compose some very worthwhile music to improvise off of. The composer's chores are shared equally by the trio with three apiece. They put the in/out approach into action and pave the way for the three-way musical conversations that follow.

The Kismetic (fatefully inevitable) rapport between the three produces some of the finest modern jazz I've heard this year.

Don't be fooled. Great artists like these are at the first rank of their instruments--and that, in spite of a bassoon-trombone sniper who weighed in on a comment some months ago--is an achievement that ranks equally with, say, the best tenors or the best pianists.

This album gives you the warp and woof of why that is so. Anderson forcefully swinging with a bold tone and subtle nuance, Helias punchy and smart, Hemingway a master of timbre and pulse, these are three of today's mothers. Check this one out and I think you'll be very glad of it.

Ark Ovrutski and his Sounds of Brasil CD

Ark Ovrutski, bassist, rooted in Russian, Ukranian, and New York City culture. . . .So why does he do a Brazilian flavored jazz album, Sound of Brazil (Self-Produced)? Why does anybody do anything? He's into the style is the obvious answer. What counts is the music, of course.

So he got together with drummer Duduka da Fonseca and put together a nice quintet of Brazilian and American musicians, namely Craig Handy (flute, alto, tenor), Jorge Continentino (flutes, tenor, bari), and Helio Alves (piano). They amassed some hip tunes and arrangements and. . . well there you have it. Duduka, Helio and Ark have much to do with getting a samba groove going and then the reeds get their solo shots (along with good piano and bass solo slots). Everything gels. If this sometimes sounds more like the Corea ventures into samba territory than, say, the Zimbo Trio, that can be understood. There are Afro-Latin elements (quasi-Tyner-esque?) in the rhythm department too, but that fits in fine.

This is an album that gets in good solo time, gets a Brazilian-American groove hopping with a modern jazz looseness, and pleases without pandering.

Guitarist Frank Butrey's Hard Driving "Malicious Delicious"

As I've said before, one nice thing about doing these blogs is that you get sent things that come out of left field, things you would never have known about otherwise. Philadelphia-based guitarist Frank Butrey's Malicious Delicious (Lust for Toys 01979 FRK) is that sort of surprise for me.

This is a scorching set of mostly electric, hard fused rock. He's playing with some crack cats and he is playing some very aggressively hip fusion. Nothing polite. He has chops but he's using them to express, not impress.

There is the kind of joy of playing going on that you found more in the early fuzed music sets than you are apt to find today--I mean the glad-to-be-here energy of early McLaughlin, Rypdal, Tony William's Lifetime, Santana in the astral zone, those early "this is new and we're psyched to do it" days.

The pieces have varying compositional feels. What's invariable is the quality of the guitar playing.

You dig guitarists cranking fuzed heat and cosmic cool, you should definitely NOT miss this one.

Bann Quartet Debuts with "As You Like"

BANN stands for the first initials of the last names of the four members of this heavy-duty quartet: Seamus Blake (tenor), Jay Anderson (bass), Oz Noy (electric guitar), and Adam Nussbaum (drums). As You Like (Jazzeyes 010) announces their presence with some molto kick-tail artistry.

Seamus Blake is a tenor of great magnitude. If you don't already know his work, this is a good place to start. He's a prime exponent of the modern post-Trane tenor. Jay Anderson and Adam Nussbaum are ideal rhythm-team mates. They give the swing and rock grooves a real kick start. And Mr. Anderson's note choice is superb. Electric guitarist Oz Noy is so good I am almost speechless. Guitarists beware; here's somebody coming in from the wings that is fully formed (as from the head of Medusa as the saying goes). He's so good I'm wondering if it isn't John Scofield under a pseudonym? Well if I am wrong I am going to irritate Oz; if I am right I am running the risk of blowing Sco's cover. At any rate on slide, with the pick, whatever he is doing is powerful, soulful, and filled with excellent ideas.

The tunes are a excellent mix of reworked standards ("All the Things You Are" is given a most unusual arrangement), a rock classic (David Crosby's "Guinnevere," which will make you say "gee, that's a great tune to do this way"), Monk's "Played Twice," Joe Henderson's "Isotope" and a good helping of originals that give the band a chance to get into some fine solos and might have you whistling along after a few plays.

In short this is terrific, electrically charged modern jazz. Don't stop there Bann, do more! Hear As You Like and you'll no doubt be wanting more too. A long life to them, collectively and singly!

Saalik Ziyad, AACM's Jazz Vocalist

Billie and Lester, Andy Bey and Gary Bartz, Leon Thomas and Pharaoh Sanders, Jeanne Lee and Gunter Hampel, Doug and Jean Carn. . . . when jazz singers and jazz instrumentalists get together on an equal level the results can be very inspired.

AACM's Saalik Ziyad sings well. He also is one of those who prefers to do his singing the the company of accomplished instrumental improvisers. There is his 5 After 7 band for example, which features Fred Jackson Jr. on saxophone and Shaun Johnson on trumpet and flugelhorn. And he's been involved with various other lineups in the past, notably with a group that included Willie Pickens on piano.

Some of his very worthy music can be found at his www.saalikjazz.com and his www.youlistising.blogspot.com sites. Last year he was offering a free download of the files to his Best of Saalik Ziyad Live recording, a 2-cdr offering of some very compelling live music captures. I picked it up and have been listening to it with interest.

He sings and phrases like a horn, a horn that can do the words along with the music (of course, but hey, I mean like a HORN). He scats well and he has a sense of time that you would expect from a very good instrumental soloist. With "Passion Dance," "Black Narcissus" and "Caravan," he does the head melodies with lyrics, some presumably his own. It works! These are gigs where the tapes were rolling and the sound is always clear in a rough and ready state. What's important is that the energy and excitement of the live club gig is there in the best sense. His singing and the playing of his bandmates have the immediacy of the club gig on a great night.

Saalik is one of those Chicago treasures that those not following the Chitown scene on the club level may miss. I don't know if this CD is still available but there is plenty of music to check out on his two sites. He is a musician's singer. He is a real JAZZ singer. He should not be missed if you dig that. Do check him out.

Bassist Hugo Carvalhais Crafts Some Extraordinary Ensemble Jazz

Portuguese bassist Hugo Carvalhais has shown on the new Nebulosa CD (Clean Feed 201) that there is a way to have some really interesting free-yet-structured music going that incorporates electronics as it would another horn or keyboard--that is, they become an integral part of the ensemble.

On this recording date it's a very intelligent mix of Hugo on bass and electronics, Gabriel Pinto on piano and synthesizer, Mario Costa on drums, and, for most of the cuts, the always-coherent Tim Berne on the alto.

Mr. Carvalhais plays a meaty and well-conceived style of contrabass with great attention to sound and use of space; Gabriel Pinto has a harmonic-melodic richness to his playing that adds much to the group; Mario Costa drives and tumbles from the drum chair in ways that suggest adeptly various velocities and densities in the freetime zone; Tim Berne is magnificent as you might expect; the electronics provide quasi-orchestral sound colors and timbres that really add to the music. And Mr. Pinto takes a few nice synthesizer-as-horn solos that bring out another dimension to the group.

This could easily be passed over in the scuffle for attention that characterizes the new release media blitz. It most assuredly should not. Because there is some terrific music here--compositionally, improvisationally and ensemble-wise.

Kronomorfic Makes A Kind of Musical Magic

Some music sneaks up on you. You listen once and you think, "that's pretty interesting," but you don't drop what you are doing and run around the block shouting the news. Then later after more listens you start to appreciate the subtleties that only become apparent in time. That's how I experienced the Kronomorfic album Micro Temporal Infundibula (pfMentum CD059).

It's a collective of musicians with an improvisational-compositional agenda that doesn't quite fit into the typical pigeonholes ready-made to ease any uncertainties. It's a six-member outfit. David Borgo plays reeds, wrote one of the pieces, and arranged the music; Paul Pellegrin is a polyrhythmic force on drums and percussion and wrote eight of the compositions; Bill Barrett plays a lively chromatic harmonica; Junior Garrison plays a very atmospheric electric guitar; Nathan Hubbard gives the ensemble aural character on vibes and marimba; Danny Weller is on doublebass and pinions the groove and fundamentals nicely.

The music has an almost through-composed aspect to it. There are metrical grooves, highly interesting voicings for the ensemble, interestingly atypical melodies, contrapuntal ensemble densities that keep interest levels high, and some very worthy improvisations, especially from David Borgo. The improvisational and compositional elements integrate so well that the distinctions become less important in light of the total ensemble experience.

This is a kind of jazz that that grooves as it also provides some quite sophisticated musical fare. There are African influences and much else besides. Kronomorfic is a total pleasure for those with ears hungry for something beyond the ordinary. Very much recommended.

Arguelles with Formanek, Rainey in "Ground Rush"

If you want to show your improvising abilities and sound to the maximum the pianoless trio of horn, bass and drums is one of the most fertile vehicles to do so. That's what tenor saxman Julian Arguelles has done on his new CD Ground Rush (Clean Feed 191). It's not just any trio partners he's gathered together though. It's Michael Formanek on acoustic bass and Tom Rainey on drums, both leaders in their own right and some sensitive and formidable ensemble voices.

They run through seven Arguelles originals and one number by the entire band. This is loose and driving postbop with nice vehicles to improvise with. Arguelles' tenor has its own trajectory. He doesn't sound like anybody much, though the conceptual approach has something in common with Ornette Coleman (and since Ornette's influence has been enormous, that can be said of many), but not the sound. Julian is very fluid and poised.

Michael Formanek digs in for this session and makes syzygy-like connections with his fellow bandmates. He is in indispensable part of the proceedings and sounds great at all times. Tom Rainey plays drums in ways that play up an accompanying role in the best sense. He's there in creative ways whether it is a free-form phrase or a swinging quietude, or not-so-quiet too.

All told, the three give out with a very good performance indeed. It should make them proud. The music impresses me, OK? For the less bombastic side of contemporary jazz with no signs of anemia, you would do well to hear this one.

Guitarist Mary Halvorson and Her New "Saturn Sings" Recording

Some artists get a certain amount of buzz out there at a certain point in their careers. Guitarist Mary Halvorson is one of them right now. She's written about, lands some prominent gigs and comes to the fore with her latest CD Saturn Sings (Firehouse 12 FH12-04-01-013).

The album pits Halvorson and her regular trio (with Ches Smith on drums and John Hebert, bass) augmented by Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet and Jon Irabagon on alto, the latter of whom has been generating some buzz himself.

It's ten Halvorson compositions with an inside-outside approach put together for the augmented band. Heads and tonality are related to contemporary jazz trends with some quirks; solos and the rhythm section bring in the free aspects of the music to a greater or lesser degree.

There are an interesting series of numbers here and Mary Halvorson shows in her solo style what all the talk is about. She is not one for 32nd-note runs. What she does do is combine note clusters-chords with loping or angular line work and somewhat restrained episodes of skronk outness. Her treatment of chording (with or without what sounds like the whammy) gives her a distinctive sound. Her tone is usually more in the straight-ahead zone than in one of a rock-inflected effects-orientation, though there are moments of shred-tone cranked in for short intervals here and there. To hear her comp is to hear something singular.

Finlayson and Irabagon make for sympathetic and simpatico fellow front liners. They have things to say and they say them.

What you end up with is a convincing set of modern music that should appeal to jazz fanciers and guitar students out there. It is good evidence as to why the buzz about Mary isn't just talk.

Guitarist Pierre Dorge with John Tchicai and Lou Grassi in Bright Green

What is it about the most modern jazz that puts some people off? I was watching a sit com the other night and one of the characters said, "Jazz is the sea urchin of music," which implied that it was something no one wanted to "eat." Not true!

Preparation is important. Getting used to the sounds and structures involved is a second factor. Free improvisation or post-bop assumes a certain familiarity with what went before. At least it helps to understand what the music is an extension and commentary upon. Second, “new” jazz (some of it 50 years old by now) can use harsher textures and rhythms that are not easy assimilated by someone used to a four-square overtly stated beat. There can be a cacophony that remains highly expressive but perhaps a little disconcerting if you are not used to it.

Today’s CD has a fully modern, freely articulated bent, yet it seems to me that it might be easier for the novice to grasp than some recordings. We have two Danish master improvisers, saxophonist John Tchicai and guitarist Pierre Dorge joining with US drummer Lou Grassi in a tuneful set that has a fairly laid-back approach, accessible rhythmic pulses much of the time and a musical logic that shouldn’t be hard to grasp. Hope is Bright Green Up North (CIMP) has a front line that has played together for quite a while, mostly in Pierre Dorge’s New Jungle Orchestra (mentioned in an earlier blog page). They both go their own way stylistically. There’s originality and imagination in everything they do. Lou Grassi effectively anchors their melodic and improvisatory journeys with solid drumming. What’s interesting to me is that while most people should find this disk easy to understand, the group is in no way watering down its music for wider acceptance. Tchicai and Dorge are doing some very nice things here. The CIMP recording can be found on the website listed in the links column.

Originally posted on March 23, 2009, at www.gapplegate.com/musicalblog.htm.

Bassist Lisa Mezzacappa Steps Out with First Recording as Leader

Bassist Lisa Mezzacappa had a good idea when she thought of what she would do for her first album as leader: she took some musical fragments played by artists she had especially admired, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Dolphy, Ayer, Ornette, Kirk, Sun Ra, and built performance pieces out of them. There are also good cover versions of Captain Beefheart's "Lick My Decals Off, Baby," (it stays in the mind) and Steve McCall's "I'll Be Right Here Waiting." Then she chose to work with musicians she had long associated with: Aaron Bennett, tenor, John Finkbeiner, electric guitar, and Vijay Anderson on the drums.

Into the studio and now out comes What is Known (Clean Feed 192) by Lisa Mezzacappa and Bait & Switch.

The pieces hang together well. The band does too, via better living through (musical) chemistry and because in part they know each other musically from long association.

Bennett's tenor is raucous and energized, Finkbeiner plays some abstract and electric lines worth your ears' attention, Lisa M. has a forcefully strong tone and convinces with what she does. Vijay plays as a group member. What he does is right and it's thought through.

Now perhaps one could say that about alot of bands but in this case the material Lisa has put together moulds the end result to be smart, varied and quite stimulating.

This is a really nice first album and it plays repeatedly in my musical listening cycle right now. Definitely recommended for some worthwhile and very modern jazz improv!

Bassist Lindsey Horner and "Don't Count On Glory"

Lindsey Horner plays a very solid bass, in solo or as an important building block to a band. He is also a gifted composer-arranger. All these skills come to the fore on his Cadence CD Don’t Count On Glory.

The concept for this one is a large band ensemble (of 16 members) containing a small band of rhythm and good soloists. There are some heavy cats in this ensemble, notably Marty Ehrlich on alto, Bobby Previtte on drums and some nice guitar contributions from Colter Harper and Eric Susoeff. There are plenty of high moments. It’s a contemporary date with a variety of feels and a sense of exploration. What’s most impressive is the writing and arranging. It’s very, very good. Mr. Horner is another guy who deserves to be better known. This CD is a delight. Check the Cadence link for more on the disk.

Originally posted on March 19, 2010 at www.gapplegate.com/musicalblog.htm

Garrison Fewell's Variable Density Sound Orch: Sound Particle 47

We take a virtual trip to Boston today for the larger ensemble sounds of Garrison Fewell's Variable Density Sound Orchestra and their second album, Sound Particle 47 (Creative Nation Music 016).

This is advanced ensemble improvisation that begins where Mingus's larger ensemble works leave off and takes the music to further outposts and way stations in the realm of new sounds. For this recording we have a nine-piece group: Garrision on electric guitar plus Roy Campbell on trumpet, Steve Swell, trombone, Eric Hofbauer, guitar, Achille Succi, alto sax and bass clarinet, and other players, all on the game. The music was composed by Fewell and his sidemen along with a few by John Tchicai.

You get a roll-and-tumble music that has plenty of solo space, sometimes collectively. Swell and Campbell stand out, as do the guitarists, but everybody puts in their time with creative results. The ensemble size grows and shrinks within pieces in ways that provide listeners with contrast and aural adventure throughout the set.

The arranged-written parts come and go at various points, avoiding a head-solos-head approach.

Sound Particle 47 brings to you an uncompromising look at what thoughtful compositions and intelligent improvisation can do when built up by a very talent group of musicians. This is a first-rate performance of cuttingly acute music. Definitely recommended for an excellent example of what is going on right now.

Chris Colangelo Fields A Powerful Bass and Driving Ensemble

Chris Colangelo plays some ear-gabbling solos on the contrabass. He also writes some very interesting and musically advanced music in the modern jazz bag. He is an ensemble man too and he has an ensemble, man. His second CD is Elaine's Song (C Note 001) and it has everything good happening in it.

Joining Colengelo for this record is a set of musicians that fully attune to Chris' music. There's John Beasley on piano doing beautiful interpretations of Colangelo's music and soloing in the post-Evans mode but with absolute assurance and real artistic flair. Steve Hass does everything a drummer should do--beautiful time that drives and loosens, solo moments that add to the excitement....The three-sax lineup of Bob Sheppard, Benn Clatworthy and Zane Musa gives the ear solid modern soloing and sympathetic readings of Colangelo's music.

The original pieces are very contrasting and strong. It is the sort of music that Hancock and Shorter wrote for Miles and Blue Note in the mid-sixties. And yes, perhaps it approaches those heights now and then. Colangelo also throws in an early Trane classic and a Steve Swallow song that reminds us of the great pieces that grand master of the bass has written.

The music spins you around in your chair. It is excellent in every respect. Colangelos playing, his writing, and his band are shown to great advantage on Elaine's Song. And so it is highly recommended. I only hope he can get this band rolling on a long-term basis and continue to perform and record with it. Because it is a group to watch. Absolutely.

McCoy Tyner and Various Guitarists Shine Forth

McCoy Tyner has had a great influence in the music world since he entered it in the late ‘50s. Of all the pianists of his generation, he belongs to the select few monster stylists out there. Most people reading this will know that.

He hasn’t played much with guitarists, for whatever reason. Until now. His aptly titled CD Guitars (Half Note) finds him in company with five different stringmen, plus a formidable rhythm section of Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette. Much of the material is familiar, but that’s not the point. What happens with each segment belongs to the good chemistry law: if two musicians listen carefully and respect each other’s way of going about his business, nice things can happen. And that’s the case with these sessions.

Marc Ribot gets four numbers and he is alternatingly out and in the groove with playing that has distinct rock overtones at times. John Scofeld and Bill Frisell each show why they are at the top. Then there’s Bela Fleck on banjo, a wizard that comes off quite well in his sequence. He’s amazing! Finally jamband hero Derek Trucks gets his turn, and if you already know about him, you’ll find him into his thing and acquitting himself admirably. If you are new to him, it gives you a chance to evaluate where he is coming from and how that mixes with Mr. Tyner’s way of dealing. McCoy took a chance playing with four such disparate players. It was worth it.

Originally posted by Grego on March 6th of last year at www.gapplegate.com.

Bassist-Composer Jamie Ousley's "Back Home"

Bass players used to be a more or less unsung lot. Yes, Paul Chambers, Charlie Mingus and Oscar Pettiford (OK, yeah, also Red Mitchell and Curtis Counce) led groups and made great records, but there didn't seem to be many of them that could sustain or maintain prolonged attention. All that changed a while ago and these days you find quite a few good players fronting bands.

One of them making a bid for the limelight is one Jamie Ousley, who has a beautiful tone, a matter-of-fact melodic solo style that has something in common with the great Charlie Haden in it's deliberation.

And he has a new, second album that will be hitting the stores this summer, Back Home (TIE 1076). For that effort he relies on the basic piano trio of himself, pianist Phillip Strange on piano, and Larry Marshall on drums. This is a most pleasing, melifluent nucleus that gets some heavy company: Ira Sullivan, on fluegelhorn, soprano, and alto flute, sounding as good as ever, Ed Calle on soprano, three different vocalists on three songs, and a number of others. The emphasis is on Ousley's compositional aplomb. He writes some very nice tunes that don't fade into a generic woodwork. They stand out as lyricism with grit, not sentimental but always tuneful. They range from Latin-tinged episodes like "Pasaje Tennessee," the balladic memorability of the title cut, and a range of other feels and formats, always effective and melodically distinct. Oh, and there are a few unusually treated covers, like the flamenco steeped "My Favorite Things," or a calypso version of one of Chopin's well-known Nocturnes.

Ousley comes up with a knockout. You might be finding yourself flat on your back on the canvas while someone counts, or no, that's the drums. But you'll just be happy anyway. Happy that you're hearing some very fetching music. Sorry that that will have to wait until its August 1st release date. It's worth a few days. It's good!