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Pat Martino
Undeniable: Live
At Blues Alley
High Note 7231
HHH½
Sit through enough discs
by young players refining
high-falluting concepts,
and the simple pleasures
of an old-fashioned blowing
session just might
take on a new resonance.
Martino’s ace quartet isn’t working any convoluted
arrangements on this live date. As riff
tunes explode and hot licks fly, the band strikes
a balance between blues, bounce and bluster.
The resulting blend has a feisty eloquence.
Martino thrives onstage, like in the potency
of his previous live date from Yoshi’s, and
the way its interplay stressed a certain kind of
collective vigor. Similar energy was in place at
the esteemed D.C. night club for the recording
of Undeniable. The thrust the foursome gives
groove tunes like “Double Play” and “Goin’ To
A Meeting” is just as key to the music’s personality
as their keenly animated solos. The
guitarist’s outfit—saxophonist Eric Alexander,
organist Tony Monaco and drummer Jeff
Watts—packs a punch throughout.
This is clear as soon as “Lean Years” leaps
from the speakers. The process of swinging
Ron Carter
Great Big Band
Sunnyside 1293
HHH½
Bassist Ron Carter notches
his 50th anniversary as
leader by extending his
incredibly prolific recording
career into the unexpected
realm the classic
big band form, his first
as leader. Seeking neither
transformation nor nostalgia, Carter offers a lot
to like in this middle of the road ride.
The main task he and arranger Robert
Freedman have set for themselves is to take a
sampling of bop standards and a few big band
classics and find some unexplored corners
to illuminate. Take Sy Oliver’s “Opus One,”
which is a clear invitation to open the throttle
and just drive. Modern bands have tackled
it from time to time, each trying to out swing
the other. Carter cools the jets and use a little
ingenuity while still letting it swing politely.
So the theme becomes an unexpected and lowkey
conversation between bass trombone and
saxes. Carter’s “Opus One” finds style and wit
in its gentle reserve.
Few tunes have been around longer or
passed through more horns than “The St. Louis
Blues” and “Caravan.” Each springs to life
can take place in a variety
of ways, but it’s particularly
distinct when a
band prioritizes coordination.
Monaco’s footpedal
work and Watts’
signature punch join
forces with consummate
poise, so Martino and
Alexander have plenty of
liftoff. The slow swagger
of “Double Play” finds
them intertwining lines,
and after Martino casts a spell with his solo, he
woos the crowd with tantalizing inflections and
fleet arpeggios, earning himself a ton of house,
including some wolf whistles.
This date is built on the architecting of tension
and release. The shuffle march that drives
“Midnight Special” does its job by hustling
everything along, but Monaco’s stormy exposition
and Martino’s fluid romp play havoc with
the groove while steadfastly fanning its flames.
It’s a cagey move, and it brings heady notions to
an otherwise physical stomping ground.
Martino has several high water marks in
his discography, and Undeniable definitely
warrants a place among them. —Jim Macnie
Undeniable: Lean Years; Inside Out; Goin’ To A Meeting; Double
Play; Midnight Special; ‘Round Midnight; Side Effect. (59:02)
Personnel: Pat Martino, guitar; Eric Alexander, tenor saxophone;
Tony Monaco, organ; Jeff “Tain” Watts, drums.
Ordering info: jazzdepot.com
here with a brisk fresh
glow. The former swings
with an easy flow, finding
some especially engaging
brass-reed section interaction,
with the saxes
spilling over with bubbling
flashes of Carterish
phrasing—Benny Carter,
that is.
Carter may be the
headman, but the music
never becomes a soapbox
for the bosses bass chops. His solo helpings
are wisely proportional, mostly reserving
his own “Opus 1.5” for stepping forward. It’s a
plaintive, soft-spoken chart that he shares with
Charles Pillow’s regal English horn. Carter’s
virtuosity is always felt, though, never more
than in the eloquent contrapuntal bass running
through Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints” or his
brief declaratory theme statements that open
up to the band’s journey through the Modern
Jazz Quartet’s 1957 “Golden Striker.”
—John McDonough
Interface: Caravan; The Eternal Triangle; Pork Chop; Opus 1.5;
Con Alma; Sail Away; Opus One; Sweet Emma; St. Louis Blues;
Line For Lyons; Footprints; The Golden Striker; Loose Change.
(53:16)
Personnel: Tony Kadleck, Greg Gilbert, Jon Owens, Alex Norris,
trumpets; Jason Jackson, Steve Davis, James Burton III, Douglas
Purviance, trombones; Jerry Dodgion, Steve Wilson, Wayne Escoffery,
Jay Brandford, saxophones; Charles Pillow, English horn;
Mulgrew Miller, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Lewis Nash, drums; Robert
Freedman, music director.
Ordering info: sunnysiderecords.com
Christian McBride Big Band
The Good Feeling
Mack Avenue 1053
HHH
Christian McBride’s maiden voyage on disc as
a big band leader showcases his many
strengths: exuberance, chops, reverence for
precursors, soulfulness and swing. How lovely,
too, that he’s out front with his resonant,
meaty bass, playing lead lines (sometimes with
other instruments) soloing often and making no
bones about the fact he is leading this project.
In his liner notes, McBride extolls the qualities
of straightforwardness and simplicity exemplified
by Frank Sinatra’s Reprise albums, but
the bassist doesn’t always follow his own best
instincts, occasionally falling into turgid, overwritten
passages or, in one instance—“A Taste
Of Honey”—transforming a lovely song into a
vocally-impossible-to-scan mess (pace Oliver
Nelson, who inspired it). But by and large this
album is a swinging, screaming gut-grabber, a
joyful album that conveys McBride’s exploratory
joy in writing for large ensemble.
“Shake’n’Blake,” the opener, sets the tone,
with fat and splashy textures, punchy brass, a
burly baritone saxophone/bass line and smokin’
solos by tenor saxophonist (and tune namesake)
Ron Blake, trumpeter Nicholas Payton and
trombonist Michael Dease. “Broadway” is Bill
Basie all the way, in the Quincy Jones mode,
with muted trumpets and trombones. “Bluesin’
In Alphabet City” may be the best track on the
album – unpretentious, explosive swing with a
big trombone soli stating the theme over walking
bass. “In A Hurry” is a close second, with
a macho trombone duel and a big finish that
recalls Lionel Hampton’s zigzag energy.
—Paul de Barros
The Good Feeling: Shake’n’Blake; Broadway; Brother Mister;
When I Fall In Love; Science Fiction; The Shade Of The Cedar Tree;
The More I See You; I Should Care; A Taste Of Honey; Bluesin’ In Alphabet
City; In A Hurry. (70:27)
Personnel: Christian McBride, bass; Steve Wilson, Todd Bashore,
alto saxophone, flute; Ron Blake, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone,
flute; Todd Williams, tenor saxophone, flute; Loren Schoenberg,
tenor saxophone (2, 8); Carl Maraghi, baritone saxophone, bass
clarinet; Frank Greene, Freddie Hendrix, Nicholas Payton, Nabate
Isles, trumpet; Steve Davis, Michael Dease, James Burton, trombone;
Douglas Purviance, bass trombone; Xavier Davis, piano; Ulysses Owens
Jr., drums; Melissa Walker, vocals.
Ordering info: mackavenue.com
80 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2011