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Steven Bernstein’s
Millennial
Territory Orchestra
MTO Plays Sly
The Royal Potato Family 1110
HHHH½
With the occasional spate of
Sly Stone tribute discs that
pops up, few command
repeated investigations, mostly
because Stone’s originals
continue to cast such a towering presence.
Steven Bernstein cuts the rut though with the
help of his Millennial Territory Orchestra on
the splendid, MTO Plays Sly.
The disc excels at illustrating not only
Bernstein’s deep love for the repertoire but
also his deep understanding of the material.
While he’s able to retain the emotional vibe of
some of the originals, the ensemble’s unique
characteristics don’t get lost. The orchestra’s
hypnotic, Middle Eastern take on “Everyday
People” is one of the most transcendental versions
of the song, made even more powerful by
Shilpa Ray’s impassioned yet ghostly vocals.
With the help of Antony Hegarty’s quivering
voice and Bernie Worrell’s somber organ,
Bernstein and the crew uncork all the weary
melancholy out of “Family Affair” that brewed
underneath the original’s funkier arrangement.
Martha Wainwright lends her spellbinding
soprano on “Que Sera, Sera,” giving it an
New West
Guitar Group
Round-Trip Ticket
Summit 575
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Across the span of four
records, the New West
Guitar Group has experienced
some growing pains.
The current lineup of guitarists
Jeff Stein, John Storie and Perry Smith has
only recently been solidified, a point underscored
by founding father Brady Cohen’s presence
on a few of Round-Trip Ticket’s 10 tunes.
Though the lineup has changed, the trio’s aesthetic
has remained constant. Their musical
idea is simple enough to break down: an acoustic
guitar—strummed slowly, fingerpicked
lightly, aggressively chopped—backing up two
electric guitars spewing nimble runs of 16th
notes. The result lies somewhere between contemporary
folk-rock and modern jazz.
Round-Trip Ticket is the most polished of
the group’s four records, and while previous
attempts have toyed with deviations of the current
sonic format—such as the cloying, allacoustic
ballad reading of “When The Saints
Go Marching In”—each tune on the new
album stays fairly close to the group’s established
musical hierarchy. It’s an open-spaces,
eerie glimmer that would
have been a great vehicle
for the recently departed
Amy Winehouse. Sandra
St. Victor electrifies on
lead vocals on the bustling
“Skin I’m In” and
imbues “Stand” with
equal doses of carnal sensuality
and gospel-inflected
spirituality.
Matt Munisteri and
Doug Weiseiman get to show off their bluesy
flair on banjo and clarinet, respectively, on
the delightful original “Sly Notions,” driving
with gutbucket swagger by bassist Ben Allison,
drummer Ben Perowsky and the horn section.
On the twin song “Sly Notions 2/Fun,”
Bowman joins in, yelping a delightful yodel
that recalls Leon Thomas. It makes a fantastic
segue into the sauntering “Time,” which again
features Bowman’s poignant crooning and a
sizzling guitar solo from Vernon Reid.
—John Murph
MTO Plays Sly: Stand, Family Affair, Sly Notions, Que Sera, Sera,
M’Lady, You Can Make It If You Try, Everyday People, Bernie’s Interlude,
Skin I’m In, Sly Notions 2/Fun, Time, Thank You For Talkin’
To Me Africa, Life. (63:20)
Personnel: Steven Bernstein, trumpet and slide trumpet; Curtis
Fowlkes, trombone, Charlie Burnham, violin, Doug Weiselman,
clarinet and tenor saxophone; Peter Apfelbaum, tenor and soprano
saxophones; Erik Lawrence, baritone and soprano saxophones;
Matt Munisteri, guitar and banjo; Ben Allison, bass; Ben Perowsky,
drums; Bernie Worrell, Hammond organ; Vernon Reid, guitar (1,
11); Antony Hegarty, vocals (2); Martha Wainwright, vocals (4);
Dean Bowman, vocals (5, 10, 11); Sandra St. Victor, vocals (1, 9);
Shilpa Ray, vocals (7).
Ordering info: royalpotatofamily.com
sunlight-dappled record that
feels like it was recorded
en plein air, with the three
musicians surrounded by
Redwoods. In other words,
the music has a West Coast,
laid-back vibe. That the
disc was actually recorded
across two years with two
different lineups does nothing
to sully this illusion.
A few tunes on the album are rehashed
from previous attempts, keeping a lifeline
open with the band’s previous iterations. Of the
new tunes, Stein’s lone composition, “Waiting
For You,” is the most surprising; an ethereal
piece, it brings a needed ballad presence to the
proceedings.
The band’s language is jazz-based—blue
notes and extended chordal harmonies—but
the songwriting seems to sometimes exist only
as a base for solos. Jam band is a dirty phrase
to musicians who don’t playing up this association,
but on “Rivercrest” and other raucous
tunes, the lead guitarists could have used an
editor and sometimes veer dangerously close
to self-indulgent finger waggling. —Jon Ross
Round-Trip Ticket: Arrowhead; Rivercrest; Waiting For You;
Crooked Railroad; Shadow Play; Dear Friend; All My Belongings;
U-Haul Breakdown; Wandering On A Trail; Wake Up Call. (49:26)
Personnel: Jeff Stein, John Storie, Perry Smith, Brady Cohan guitars.
Ordering info: summitrecords.com
Martin Wind & The
JazzBaltica Jubilee Ensemble
Theresia
Laika 3510273
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Martin Wind, a fine bassist and composer, has
created a substantial and satisfying piece of
unconventional big band jazz writing with
Theresia. But an undeniable poignancy runs
through it—having less to do with the emotional
palette of the writing than the fact
of this work’s dedicatee, JazzBaltica festival
director Rainer Haarman’s wife, Theresia
Haarmann, who passed away in 2009. A spirit
of respect and emotional commitment shines
through on this album, beautifully realized by
a group which took as its name the JazzBaltica
Jubilee Ensemble, and recorded live at the 2010
JazzBaltica festival with a crisp sonic presence.
With Michael Wollny’s yearning piano
part opening the album’s introductory
“Overture,” we get a taste of Wind’s harmonic
palette, which can range from shades of contemporary
classical notions to blasts of oldschool
big band brassiness. The centerpiece,
the lovely piece “Theresia,” comes towards the
end of the program and encompasses a variety
of texture, including the chamber-esque timbres
of Lars Danielsson’s cello.
Donny McCaslin, the dynamic and inventive
tenor saxophonist always deserving wider
recognition, has a strong presence as a soloist
here, bringing passion and his impressive
stylistic stamp to the opening “Overture,” an
inspired solo at the end of “Theresia” and then
in a heated, tête-a-tête dialogue with tenor
player Johannes Enders on the final “Get It”
Theresia belongs to the catalog of recordings
documenting the riches of thought, and
musical deed, in the ever-expanding world of
European big band culture. —Josef Woodard
Theresia: Overture; Our In Pa; The Cruise Blues; Remember October
13; Theresia; Get It (70:29)
Personnel: Martin Wind, bass; Niels Lyhne Løkkegard, alto saxophone,
clarinet, flute; Johannes Enders, tenor saxophone, flute;
Donny McCaslin, tenor saxophone, flute; Axel Schlosser, trumpet,
flugelhorn; Nils Wülker, trumpet, flugelhorn; Karin Hammar, trombone;
Øyvind Braekke, trombone; Christopher Dell, vibraphone;
Michael Wollny, piano; Andi Haberl, drums; Nils Landgren,
trombone; Lars Danielsson, cello; Wolfgang Haffner, drums.
Ordering info: laika-records.com
90 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2011