Download - Downbeat

fan who recorded only Charlie Parker’s solos.
It’s also pointless, since it’s heard uninterrupted
on a final hidden track.
The music begins with “Transitions,” a
hyperactive whirl that features Brian Hogans on
alto sax and Jones soloing in an almost hysterical
frenzy intended to evoke the wild leaps and
plunges of a roller-coaster. Programatically
effective perhaps, but musically a bit barren.
More arresting is the brief but snapping interplay
between the two. “The Ambitious Violet” is a
nice ballad that Jones lifts to an expansive passion
with a big-toned solo. Guest soloist
Grégoire Maret contributes a supple harmonica
interlude on “Life Cycles,” which is otherwise
Latin-lite background music before fading out.
“The Storm” has a Stan Kentonish feel with its
audacious ensemble dissonances before Jones
breaks out one of his best solo turns of the set.
There’s lots of percussion to stir the mix as well.
Vocalist Carolyn Perteete brings a soft, flat
breathiness to “Letter Of Resignation,” a lovelorn
ballad with the worldly sophistication of a Billy
Strayhorn tune. Another guest, flutist Erika von
Kleist, brings a light, wispy presence to
“Summer’s Spring.” “Love’s Lullaby” is something
of a tour-de-force for Jones, who carries the
piece in a carefully paced solo that unfolds in
expansive layers before a final telescoping coda.
Jones is certainly a fine player, but I’ve
expressed a consistent ho-hum view of the
material. Only “Sean’s Jones Comes Down,” a
Frank Foster original, shows the kind of zip that
might have kicked this good CD up a star.
—John McDonough
The Search Within: The Search Within (Interlude); Transitions;
The Ambitious Violet; Life Cycles; The Storm; Letter Of
Resignation; The Search Within (For Less); Summer’s Spring;
Sunday Reflections; Sean’s Jones Comes Down; Love’s
Lullaby; The Search Within (Postlude). (62:18)
Personnel: Sean Jones, trumpet; Erika von Kleist, flute; Brian
Hogans, Walter Smith, saxophones; Grégoire Maret, harmonica;
Orrin Evans, piano; Luques Curtis, bass; Obed Calvaire, drums;
Kahlil Bell, percussion; Carolyn Perteete, vocal.
»
music. The singers aren’t the most engrossing,
and it occasionally seems that the leader is a secondary
player on his own disc. Tracks like
“Motherless Child” and “The Old Ship Of Zion”
spark only when the boss takes charge. Quicker
tempos help. The band has a blast on “It’s A Big
Army,” and the vocal-less “But I Like The
Message” finds the group utterly animated. But
wan moments crop up—I’m surprised that all
that Bible-thumping didn’t chase those devilish
passages to the fires below. —Jim Macnie
Piety Street: That’s Enough; Motherless Child; It’s A Big Army;
His Eye Is On The Sparrow; Something’s Got A Hold On Me;
The Old Ship Of Zion; 99 And A Half; Just A Little While To Stay
Here; Never Turn Back; Walk With Me; But I Like The Message;
The Angel Of Death; I’ll Fly Away. (62:12)
Personnel: John Scofield, guitar; Jon Cleary, keyboards, vocals;
George Porter, Jr., bass; Ricky Fataar, Shannon Powell, drums;
John Boutté, vocals.
»
Ordering info: mackavenue.com
Ordering info: deccarecords-us.com
CDs
»
Wynton Marsalis
He And She
Wynton Marsalis, He And She
CRITICS»
Fareed Haque + The Flat Earth Ensemble
Flat Planet
Sean Jones
The Search Within
John Scofield
Piety Street
The HOT Box
Critics’ Comments
The poem/song-poem structure isn’t as awkward as it might be, primarily because Marsalis has such a rich
reading voice and because he is a good storyteller. The playing is, across the board, beautiful, almost surgically
so, and the tunes almost all have unexpected elements and fortunately don’t follow the familiar ye faux
olde path of “School Boy.”
—John Corbett
With many warm, often clever, mostly captivating musical moments here, one cannot carp that poetry displaces
music. Steeped in tradition without exactly being “trad,” Marsalis serves up 12 small-scale pieces
that, despite dabs of artifice, avoid the trap of hyper-expectations that has swallowed earlier projects. Best,
his longest oration is an encore.
—John McDonough
Arresting tracks such as “Fears” should hush anyone who thinks Marsalis’ compositional ideas are monolithic.
And throughout this quintet date the use of structural intricacies goes hand in hand with the signature
grace that has become the cornerstone of his art. Again and again he makes oddities (the full-flutter theme
of “First Time”) seem engrossing and natural. Here’s to romance.
—Jim Macnie
Fareed Haque + The Flat Earth Ensemble, Flat Planet
Another fashionable excursion into jazz as ethnomusicology. But you needn’t be credentialed in arcane
Hindu folk idioms to enjoy Haque’s accomplished guitar mastery on its own terms. It’s all comfortable and
approachable, but only occasionally unexpected. To wit, Rob Clearfield’s piano on “Uneven Mantra.”
—John McDonough
Vamp, solo; vamp, solo; vamp, solo—man, that trajectory is wearying. The collective squalls that arise along
the way are sometimes worth waiting for, but the guitarist has delivered a string of tepid excursions that ultimately
feel rather weightless. Decent playing by all, though.
—Jim Macnie
Wow, this started off great, with the bhangra club beats, but then just went off in lebendy leben directions,
as Br’er Rabbit used to say. Haque’s obviously accomplished, but he doesn’t accomplish much with these
faux fusions of boogaloo, jazz, Indian classical, Bollywood and rock.
—Paul de Barros
Sean Jones, The Search Within
The punchy hard-bop tunes are the strong suit here; the tail-wagging medium-tempo moments are where
the program gets dreary. But even when things cook, a singularity is lacking. Jones and company adhere to
formula too much, and it ultimately neuters several flashes of brilliance.
—Jim Macnie
A magnificent player, Jones seems to be going for something introspective here but winds up with atmospheric
mood music—not smooth jazz, certainly, but too creamy for my taste. Still, “Love’s Lullaby” is gorgeous,
Jones burns on “Transitions” and it’s great he gives air time to young players like Obed Calvaire and
Erika von Kleist.
—Paul de Barros
No shortage of chops and some real fire down below. Slick and for the most part tasteful (lovely rhythm
ideas on “Sean’s Jones Comes Down”), though I’m missing a real signature. There are too many fade-ins
and fade-outs, which are compositional cop-outs.
—John Corbett
John Scofield, Piety Street
John John Jim Paul
McDonough Corbett Macnie de Barros
AAAA AAA 1 /2 AAA 1 /2 AAA
AAA AAA 1 /2 AA 1 /2 AA 1 /2
AAA AAA AAA AAAA
AAA AAA AAA AA 1 /2
Nothing fancy here, just fiercely in-the-pocket blues toasting old-time religion. Scofield’s guitar speaks as eloquently
and judiciously as B.B. King or Count Basie—a real voice, no extras. John Boutté’s hoarse vocals hit
the sweet spot, especially on the haunting “Angel Of Death.”
—Paul de Barros
The guitarist has been moving further into populist terrain, this being some logical evolution out of the collaborations
with MMW. But the blues magic only intermittently takes over, and what looks good on paper
doesn’t always translate. The super-compressed, slippery Scofield sound does make sense in a gospel setting
in part because of its sonic affinity with the similar sensibility of sacred steel.
—John Corbett
Scofield interprets gospel’s rich, earthy changes with insight and feeling but never takes them beyond the
church doors. John Boutté preaches the texts with an authority that nearly makes the guitarist a sideman on
his own date. All that’s missing is a chorus of believers. Solid but unsurprising. —John McDonough
June 2009 DOWNBEAT 59