Marcos Varela, San Ygnacio

Marcos Varela bursts on the scene as an important bassist and bandleader in the contemporary jazz world that comes out of the work of some of the master jazzmen prominent in the '60s and '70s especially--Trane and McCoy Tyner come to mind most readily, but then Herbie Hancock too and some of the Blue Note classic sides of the era.

Yet like the best art of continuation this goes forward from there. What is this? Marcos Varela's album San Ygnacio (Origin 82711). Varela puts on an exemplary bass attitude throughout as bandmate and as soloist. He is joined by a core group of masters: Billy Hart on drums and George Cables on piano (for all but a couple of tracks). They are enhanced and forwarded by the solid fire of Logan Richardson on alto for most of this. Clifton Anderson on trombone, Dayna Stephens on tenor, and Arnold Lee on alto (and Eden Ladin on piano plus Kush Abadey on drums on several tracks) add substance as well.

The mix of one standard and a bunch of contemporary mainstream originals (by Varela, Hart, Cables, Mraz, Ladin, Anderson) sets up a very conducive situation for great blowing.

It all swings and makes for a terrific listen. Varela has arrived.

Michael Feinberg's Humblebrag, Live at 800 East

It's time we show some love to the bass players, since they form an important part of what this blog is about. Michael Feinberg probably doesn't come to mind when you think of "bass". That is because he is not a name bantered about much, that I know of. I've covered two of his albums before, here--type his name in the search box for the posts. I liked them well. He has a new album that will make you take notice of him if you've missed out before. Michael Feinberg's Humblebrag is the name of the band. The album is Live at 800 East (Behip).

What hits you about this one is the overall concept. It's jazz, very modern jazz, sometimes edging into free territory, always in an advanced mode. It has a group sound that starts with Feinberg's compositions, which are quite good, and fans out into how the band works together to realize them. Michael is joined by Terreon Gully on drums, and he is someone to hear. He has a plastic time sense whether doing rock-funk or stretching out in other ways. Godwin Louis is on alto sax, Billy Buss on trumpet. They make a very dynamic and interactive front line in excellent ways. Julian Shore plays the piano, well. These are pretty much new names to me, but there is poise and hipness to be heard throughout. Buss has some of that leather-lipped brazen brass tang that goes back to Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan and before. Godwin's alto has presence and lucidity. Julian is there throughout playing some things that are advanced and tasteful. And leader Feinberg gives the music fundamental structure whether he's playing the upright or the electric bass.

The compositions have a little of the mid-period Miles, classic Wayne Shorter, middle Herbie Hancock brooding or blazing smartness, only extended into today.

I must say of all the somewhat new names and their new albums in the jazz mode coming through my ears so far this year, this one is at the top of the list for an impressive outing. I recommend it most heartily.

Ben Britton's Unconventional Riot Gets It Going with "Children at Play" EP

Ben Britton and his group Unconventional Riot do something nice on a download-only EP Children at Play (self-released). Ben and his trumpet-playing brother John did a previous album under the nom de plum the Britton Brothers. I haven't heard that one, but Children at Play brings John in for one of the three cuts.

It's contemporary jazz with the kind of modern rhythmic and overall thrust of a small Dave Holland group. Jordan Berger's contrabass and Gabe Globus-Hoenich's drums lock into straight-eight grooves (one goes a rock-cum-low-amplification route). Ben on tenor, Matt Davis on electric guitar and for one cut John on trumpet get good leverage and interesting melodic-harmonic depth as a front line, with Matt comping chords with subtle openness. All three front liners have good solo moments and the compositions have weight.

You can grab this goodie at i-tunes or Amazon at a nice price. It's no doubt just a taste of things to come, but it gets a thoroughgoing froth of good sounds going throughout. Check it out.

Nathaniel Smith Quartet Debuts with Jon Irabagon

Nathaniel Smith, MUSICAL drummer. That's what I know from his recent debut as a leader of a fine quartet on a CD simply titled Nathaniel Smith Quartet (Fresh Sound New Talent 371). He is also thoroughly schooled in the modern jazz drumming tradition. He swings lightly but accentually; he shows a good feel for brushwork; he gets around his set to provide a lot of good sounds. His skills as a tunesmith are also first rate. Five of the seven pieces on the album are his. They provide distinctive feels, good lines, and very conducive frameworks for the improvisations they set up.

Nathaniel also shows himself a bandleader who can handpick a few choice colleagues to develop a group chemistry that goes well beyond the considerable individual skills involved. Jostein Gulbrandsen is a fine guitarist. His subtle comping and incisive solo style gives the band a personality that it would not have without him. He also writes two numbers for the set, both of interest. Bassist Mark Anderson is another good choice. He underscores the rhythmic-harmonic structures of the pieces with good sense, fine tone and rock solid swingtime. Then there is Jon Irabagon and his tenor. He most certainly is one of the important new voices on his instrument, as a member of Mostly Other People Do the Killing and as a leader in his own right on a number of impressive albums. He can be incredibly exhuberant and boisterous, but on this quartet date he harnesses the dynamo for a group give and take. It's another side of Jon you hear on this one, just a shade cooler but quite lucid, never at a loss for ideas.

So there you have it. The sum of all these parts is a very thoughtfully swinging modern session. Gulbrandsen's guitar solos stand out as exceptionally interesting and we get to see another side of Jon Irabagon. This is serious jazz from start to finish. No frills, no bull. It's one of the best of the loosely straightforward improvisational sessions I've heard so far this year.

Congrats to Nathaniel Smith and his bandmates on this one!

Bassist Ken Filiano and Quantum Entaglements: Dreams From A Clown Car

Ken Filiano is one of those bassists who have established bonafide credentials in the advanced jazz network as one of the leading instrumentalists of his generation. If you know his playing you know it is dead centered on communicating all facets of the complete contrabass experience.

Listen to his Dreams From A Clown Car (Clean Feed 207) and you'll hear all of that. Bowing or pizzicato he tears forth into an expressive zone and stays right there throughout.

He knows what cats to get on his team too. The one-two punch of Michael Attias and Tony Malaby on reeds, formidable both singly and as a team, virtually guarantees that a high level of musical thought and deed will be reached early on and wont disappear through the course of the entire disk. Michael T. A. Thompson brings in the right combination of power and finesse to this thoughtfully free session. He can create hard-edged washes and rumbles of percussive density, he can lay down a swinging pulse that has variation and drive, and he can sensitively complement the quieter moments too, all in ways that testify to his big ears.

Then there's Ken Filano the crafter of good free playing frameworks, Ken the jazz composer. That's the third piece of what makes the disk at hand stand out. He writes motifs that bring out the potential and considerably realized kinetic energy of the players involved. There are the long-lined pieces like "Baiting Patience" that roll through like a long freight train, continually picking up collective momentum. There are the angular stabbing jabs of melodic distinction too, pieces that set up open-ended blowing possibilities.

In short Dreams From A Clown Car gives you highly evolved, direct yet intricate collective creativity and dynamics. It's one of the finest free dates I've heard so far this year. The right cats, the right material, the right time. A beautiful moment in the new decade and a testament to the continued vitality of the new jazz. That's what we have here. If you are serious about where we are right now this should be on your short list of music to nab. Ken Filano triumphs. Attias, Malaby and Thompson outdo their considerable musical selves. The present is made salient. Jump on this one, no kidding.