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Darius Jones Trio
Big Gurl (Smell
My Dream)
AUM Fidelity 069
HHHH
The jazz world took notice
of Darius Jones in 2009
with the release of his debut
Man’Ish Boy (Dig). The
unassuming alto saxophonist
has since patiently but
steadily started to build a solid body of work
and this new trio featuring Adam Lane on bass
and Jason Nazary on drums (Jones and Nazary
are one half of the incendiary quartet Little
Women) shows a lot of promises. Through
his association with pianists Cooper-Moore
or Matthew Shipp, Jones had established his
free-jazz credentials. Today, he demonstrates
that his musical persona will not be that easily
pigeonholed.
Jones strikes hard from the onset and
eschews conventions by developing over an
insistent groove multifaceted choruses articulated
around probing lines that open many
avenues. Elsewhere, Lane and Nazary can lay
Junior Mance
Letter From Home
Jun Glo 103
HH½
Junior Mance and his group
start strong on the opener,
“Holy Mama,” with a
driving 6/8 groove. Bassist
Hidé Tanaka kicks it off
right in the pocket, and
when the band jumps on
board, Ryan Anselmi’s tenor and Andrew
Hadro’s baritone sax attack the head with a
tight, muscular articulation. When the horns
solo, the intensity builds through their interactions
with drummer Kim Garey. Anselmi
turns in a by-the-book hard-bop performance
whose gradual escalation into inevitable upperregister
squeaks nonetheless excites, thanks
in large part to how Garey shadows it. When,
for example, Anselmi pumps out a short string
of repeated eighth-notes, she jumps right on it
with matching snare hits.
And then the recording descends from that
high point. It’s slow at first, with “Home On
The Range” as track two. After a piano meditation
on the theme that briefly stops for no evident
reason, the group settles into a very slow
waltz. Once again Anselmi delivers a solid
solo. Mance takes a turn as well but at less than
the summit of his technique; two runs up the
keyboard more or less fizzle out, and some of
his chording isn’t very precise.
After another churchy workout on
“Jubilation,” two puzzling tracks follow. The
first, “Letter From Home,” is little more than
out intricate backdrops that
spur the saxophonist and
encourage him to constantly
look for ways to add a new
dimension to his playing.
But it is on slow tempos
that Jones is even more convincing.
“Michele Loves
Willie” is a heart wrenching
ballad/pop song that
could help establish Jones
both as a performer and as
a composer. He is in full control of his powers
and adeptly negotiate pitch changes. When not
exploring the inner depth of the human soul,
Jones can turn out some uplifting performances
and his effusive alto often cuts through with
aplomb and purpose.
The biggest challenge for a rising star is to
maintain staying power. Jones seems to understand
that part of the equation and with accomplishments
such as Big Gurl, he should be building
up from under the radar. —Alain Drouot
Big Gurl (Smell My Dream): E-Gaz; Michele Loves Willie; A
Train; I Wish I Had A Choice; My Special “D”; Chasing The Ghost;
Ol’ Metal-Faced Bastard. (45:56)
Personnel: Darius Jones, alto sax; Adam Lane, bass; Jason
Nazary, drums.
Ordering info: aumfidelity.com
a riff over the I chord.
Once again Garey tries
to make things interesting
on drums, but her freewheeling
rolls and crashes
are disruptive this time.
After a few minutes, the
band begins to lose its
precision, and nearly two
minutes into the tune the
tempo seems to start dragging.
Mance’s solo never
leaves the blues scale and builds unevenly to
an aug-ninth chord that repeats somewhat out
of rhythm and then simply stops, signaling a
sudden, somewhat odd finish. “The Uptown” is
next, a riff-based blues that starts with a Monklike
feel but disjoints into a stumbling 6/8. The
central figure, played one-two-and-one-two
(rest), conjures images of a beginner’s dance
class, and despite or because of Garey’s ongoing
attempts to stir it up, everyone is noticeably
out of sync by the time they recap the intro.
Still, nobody in the audience of New York’s
Café Loup on the night this was recorded
should’ve walked out before the final number,
a medley of “Sunset And The Mocking
Bird” and “A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing.”
Here, everyone lets Anselmi blow from start
to finish, this time with subtle tonal shadings
that reveal the player’s grace and insight into
the composition. The bookend tracks are what
redeem this set. —Bob Doerschuk
Letter From Home: Holy Mama; Home On The Range; Jubilation;
Letter From Home; The Uptown; Medley: Sunset And The Mocking
Bird/A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing. (64:11)
Personnel: Junior Mance, piano; Ryan Anselmi, tenor sax; Andrew
Hadro, baritone sax; Hidé Tanaka, bass; Kim Garey, drums.
Ordering info: juniormance.com
Matt Slocum
After The Storm
Chandra 8095
HHH½
On After The Storm, drummer Matt Slocum
has embraced the quiet, relatively calm spaces
that follow great turbulence. He derives energy
from subtlety on his sophomore release, proving
that intensity and thrill do not require an
artillery of musicians or an outlandish playing
style. Most of his music is compact and tightly
wound, but he also knows how to cut loose and
bang out an aggressive swing beat.
It’s this contrast that gives After The Storm
depth. Relegated to a supporting role, Slocum’s
drum breaks fit with the music and help shape
an aesthetic; he doesn’t get outside of himself,
carried away by the need to be showy. The solid
interaction of the trio—pianist Gerald Clayton
and bassist Massimo Biolcati round out the
group—and the versatility of each musician fill
the tracks with life.
Layered richness is at the heart of the music.
Slocum’s bouncy, shifting playing on “The
Catalyst,” where he switches between a swing
beat on the ride to a clicking shuffle played on
the edge of his toms, gives the tune a flowing
movement. “When Love Is New” and “After The
Storm” are built around fragmented melodies
that drift along on top of Slocum’s brushwork.
The centerpiece of the album, however, is
Slocum’s rendering of “La Vallee Des Cloches,”
the final movement of Maurice Ravel’s Miroirs
solo piano suite. Slocum prods Clayton with easy
drum hits, adding depth to the piece. Clayton
makes the composition feel a bit like an improvisation,
conversing with Slocum’s rolling mallets
and Biolcati’s subdued bass.
Slocum has created eight tracks that highlight
his compositional intimacy. While his
drumming is a key component to the trio’s sound
and Slocum’s name is on the marquee, he’s content
to let others carry his ideas and simply provide
an undercurrent to the music. —Jon Ross
After The Storm: Jacaranda; The Catalyst; It’s Easy To Remember;
Passaic; After The Storm; La Vallee Des Cloches; Everything I
Love; When Love Is New; Pete’s Place. (66:02)
Personnel: Matt Slocum, drums; Gerald Clayton, piano; Massimo
Biolcati, bass.
Ordering info: mattslocumjazz.com
98 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2011