One of the best organ trio albums I’ve heard in a while is by drummer Jordan Young’s Cymbal Melodies (Posi-Tone). Too many albums of this sort are overly moody or too candy pop. This one is just right—upbeat, groovy and melodic. And there are superb tracks here: By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, Lee Morgan’sFree Wheelin’ and Grant Green’sGrantstand as well as originals and other standards. Backing Young are Brian Charette on organ, Avi Rothbard on guitar and Joe Sucato on saxophone. Shades of the Mighty Burner, organist Charles Earland.
Category: Reviews
Jordan Young gets a mention on The Jazz Breakfast
And the organ trios with a bit of added saxophone just keep coming… This one is led by drummer Young with Brian Charette on organ. Avi Rothbard adds some guitar and Joe Sucato is the saxophonist.
The book is pretty straight-ahead readings of classic guitar and organ material from the likes of Lee Morgan and Grant Greene with some covers including Jimmy Webb’s By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Bacharach’s Raindrops Keep Falling… and Sting’s Roxanne.
Pleasant enough small combo grooving that could have been made at any time in the last half century.
Lucid Culture on Jordan Young “Cymbal Melodies”…
It’s been too long without a B3 record here. Luckily, drummer Jordan Young’s new one Cymbal Melodies is just out on Posi-tone. The title is ironic since Young plays this one very low-key and in the pocket: there are cymbals here but they’re typically providing judiciously whispery atmospherics rather than ostentatiously whirling sonic snowstorms. Recorded in a single day last winter in Brooklyn, this is mid 60s-style gutbucket jazz-lounge stuff, a sometimes tersely robust, sometimes contemplative soundtrack for gin-fueled conviviality. As with Young’s previous release, the ubiquitously original Brian Charette plays organ alongside guitarist Avi Rothbard and saxophonist Joe Sucato.
They open with a jauntily swinging roller-rink version of Wichita Lineman, veering in and out of a jazz waltz with tastily bluesy guitar over a vamp as it fades out. Lee Morgan’s Free Wheelin’ revisits a jazz waltz rhythm with carefree sax, terse guitar and one of Charette’s trademark spinning, distantly carnivalesque solos. They tackle a couple of ballads, giving Ghost of a Chance a purist bluesiness, strutting their way through a sax-and-drums version of Best Thing for You Is Me
They reinvent the Police’s Roxanne as a clave tune – it’s better than the original. Grant Green’s Grandstand sticks to the oldschool afterwork party vibe, right down to Young’s martial volleys. There are also a couple of solid Young originals here: Bird Bath, a catchy blend of Booker T. groove and lush Charette melodicism, and the pulsing, bluesy Mood for McCann. The album closes with a briskly walking take on Easy Living, with a tip of the hat to Art Farmer. The only miss here is an attempt to redeem a cloying early 70s easy-listening radio hit as a swing tune: epic fail. With all the great songs out there, the choice of that one is the only mystery here: otherwise, the tunes, if not the cymbals, hit you upside the head in a good way.
Thomas Conrad reviews Ralph Bowen “Total Eclipse” for JazzTimes…
Ralph Bowen plays a pure strain of postmodern tenor saxophone. He is hugely proficient technically and consistently spills his guts. Take “Into the City.” Its quick, jagged, asymmetrical head is like a call to arms. Bowen builds from a few repeated adjacent tones to long convoluted lines that sound like onslaughts until you hear that they are actually sets of subtle variations (if in-your-face tenor can be subtle).
It follows that he makes good records. His three most recent, Power Play , Due Reverence and Dedicated , all on Posi-Tone, were aesthetic undertakings as tenor saxophone clinics. Total Eclipse might be his best yet. It has Bowen’s hottest band ever.
The guys are relatively new. Jared Gold is an organist who maximizes the resources of his instrument. When he and Bowen combine for maximum unison power, as on “Exosphere,” this quartet hits like a big band. When Gold unleashes the full force of the B3 on a wild, roaring piece like “Hip Check,” he does not so much comp as slam and bash behind Bowen, catapulting him forward. Yet Gold also takes solos of glittering detail and piquant discord, as on “In My Dreams.” Mike Moreno is a free thinker on guitar. He complements the ensemble sound with off-center pinpoints of light, and takes intriguing, ambiguous solos. Rudy Royston, who plays free drums in the tenor trio of JD Allen, operates in a more defined, organized role with Bowen. But he still sounds dangerously volatile.
There are eight strong tracks and one tour de force. Bowen’s dash through the head of “Hip Check” is impossibly fast and exact, then he improvises at the same rapid data rate. Royston rockets; Moreno ululates; Gold shrieks. Bowen rivets the theme into place at the end. Another day at the office.
Bruce Lindsay writes up Ed Cherry “It’s All Good”…
Guitarist Ed Cherry has been playing professionally since the early ’70s, as a sideman to musicians such as Tim Hardin, Jimmy McGriff, Henry Threadgill andJimmy Smith. Most famously, he spent over fifteen years in Dizzy Gillespie’s band, remaining with the group until the trumpeter’s death in 1993. Perhaps because of his busy career as a sideman his discography as a leader is small, with just three albums before It’s All Good, the most recent being The Spirit Speaks (Justin Time Records, 2001). Eleven years on from his previous CD, It’s All Good is a very welcome reminder of his talents.
It’s All Good is a straight-ahead guitar trio album, with Pat Bianchi on organ and Byron Landham on drums. Cherry doesn’t mess around with the format, just uses it to put together some beautifully-crafted tunes. He has a pure, warm, guitar sound and plays with a refreshing economy and spaciousness. Landham—who’s worked with Joey DeFrancesco,Lee Ritenour and Shirley Scott—is a fine choice as drummer, his lightly swinging playing adding movement as well as holding down the rhythm. Bianchi can be a demonstrative soloist, punching out flurries of notes on “Christo Redentor” or Cherry’s own “Something For Charlie,” but he’s most impressive when his rich chordal playing gives depth and texture to the group’s sound.
The trio’s style is cool and subtle, with an unhurried swing and the ability to develop some killer grooves. It’s right at the heart of Don Raye and Gene De Paul’s “You Don’t Know What Love Is” and Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood.” It’s also central to the trio’s version of Kenny Burrell’s “Chitlins Con Carne,” which gets a relaxed, even louche, arrangement with great loose limbed percussion from Landham and a laid-back, country vibe from Cherry. Wayne Shorter’s “Edda” and Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” are faster, but still sound hip—Landham lifts the pace effortlessly and Cherry and Bianchi happily follow his lead.
The guitar, organ, drums combo has a long and proud history in jazz. Whatever the reasons for its longevity, the lineup works and in the right hands it delivers some great sounds. It’s All Good carries on the tradition on fine style.
SomethingElse Reviews Jordan Young…
A few years ago Pat Metheny made a solo guitar “covers” record What’s It All About, a record I adore as much for the melodies he picked as how he nursed them. In discussing the idea behind the album. Metheny said,
I was born in 1954 and all of these songs were songs from the Top 40 during my childhood and early teen years. It was a period when harmony and melody were still important and viable elements in popular music. Every one of these songs has something going on that is just hip on musical level, no matter how you cut it. These are all pieces that have stuck with me over the years.
This was truly a golden era of the pop songwriter, and one of the most successful songwriter teams, because they were one of the best, was melody maker Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. Metheny did in fact cover one of their famous songs, “Alfie,” but any of another of their hits could have fit on that collection: “The Look of Love,” “Walk On By,” “Close To You,” “Always Something There To Remind Me,” “Do You Know The Way To San Jose,” and so on.
From the time of Tin Pan Alley, good melodies have made great fodder for jazz musicians, and one particular jazz drummer from Detroit recently tapped the Bacharach/David mother lode for his upcoming second release Cymbal Melodies. “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” the 1969, Oscar-winning chart topper as sung by B.J. Thomas, is handled in a creative way by Young and his band.
Young makes the song a tale of three rhythms, starting with boogaloo, moving on to a James Brown funk cadence and then shifting to the double-time swing hinted at earlier. Ace organist Brian Charette, a veteran of Lou Donaldson’s bands, is well suited for this task, stating that classic melody for a couple of go around before holding down chords while Young briefly erupts on his trap kit. Later, the organist settles in on the harmony as guitarist Avi Rothbard steps to the fore with scorching notes and egged on by the increasing intensity of Charette and Young that brings the song to a rousing ending.
Hal David, as we all know now, passed away Saturday at the ripe old age of 91. But his songs, his conversational lyrics, will always remain fresh and youthful to folks like Pat Metheny, Jordan Young…and me.
The Jazz Breakfast on Ed Cherry “It’s All Good”…
Guitarist Ed Cherry played in Dizzy Gillespie’s last band, and since then has also worked with Hamiett Bluiett, Henry Threadgill, Oliver Lake and Steve Coleman among others.
Those names might suggest an avant-garde approach, but for his first disc on Posi-Tone Cherry chooses to play it mainstream in an organ trio format with the guitar on top.
Pat Bianchi is on organ and Byron Landham on drums, and the programme includes a couple of tasty Cherry originals in among such evergreens as You Don’t Know What Love Is, In A Sentimental Mood, Maiden Voyage, Blue In Green and Epistrophy.
But Cherry and crew make them sound fresh and warm, and the whole album has the easy-going groove of a Grant Green or Wes Montgomery session.
Not ground-breaking, but sometimes ground-breaking is tiring and feels like hard work. Neither of those feelings here.
JazzWrap on Jordan Young “Cymbal Melodies”…
I said last year that Jordan Young had great skill as a leader as well as performer. His group is solid and concise.
Making the jump from his independent self-titled debut to the perfect home of Posi-Tone Records, Jordan Young delivers his newest release, Cymbal Melodies. And it is just as pronounced and confident as his debut. A strong step forward.
The two opening numbers, “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” and “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” are killer. Jordan turns “Raindrops…” into a real barn-burning. It’s smokin’ and really fun. You almost don’t recognize it thanks to some crafty and infectious work by Charette and Rothbard. But Young’s kit sounds explosive throughout. “…Phoenix” is midtempo with a groovy melody that is set with some clever and understated timing by Young. This while Charette and Rothbard give the tune a real sense of emotional structure.
“Bird Bath” is sneaky in its structure thanks to Charette’s hip crunchy styling. The dialogue between Young and Charette (longtime bandmates) is superb. “Mood For McCann” is a funky number where Young unleashes Sucato and Rothbard to exchange some fierce lines that are quite soulful; they might have you reminiscing for Jack McDuff and Grant Green.
With Cymbal Melodies , Jordan Young reaches the next level in what looks to be a sparkling career. Posi-Tone was the perfect choice for this release, fitting nicely with the label’s current stable of artists. But more importantly, a great number of people will and should get to hear an artist who is quickly finding his voice as a composer and performer. Cymbal Melodies is a solid must listen.
The Jazz Word on Ed Cherry “It’s All Good”…
Veteran guitarist Ed Cherry, a longtime sideman with Dizzy Gillespie, swings with streetwise finesse on It’s All Good for Posi-Tone Records. The subtleness of Cherry, along with Pat Bianchi on organ and drummer Byron Landham create a club-like vibe caught in the studio. The trio captures the lyrical essence of 1960s Wayne Shorter with two of the saxophonists compositions, “Deluge” and “Edda.” Cherry takes his time working through the Kenny Burrell classic “Chitlins Con Carne,” but with bluesy, story-telling phrases, it’s well worth the wait. A swinging groove on Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” gives the overdone gem a welcome boost. All in all, a no-nonsense organ record with a seasoned master at the helm.
JazzTimes reviews Spike Wilner “La Tendresse”…
Following the stirring modal opener, Wilner’s original title track which carries a distinct McCoy Tyner influence, the pianist settles into a program of charming old-school ditties performed either solo or with accompaniment by his capably swinging rhythm tandem of bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Joey Saylor. There’s a giddy solo piano interpretation of Harold Arlen’s “If I Only Had a Brain” that has Wilner dipping into a genteel stride bag. The trio’s take on Scott Joplin’s ragtime classic “Solace” is underscored by a gentle, New Orleans-flavored rhumba-boogie groove, with Saylor on brushes and Douglas on upright. They also turn in a sprightly, syncopated 3/4 rendition of Irving Berlin’s “Always” and a bristling boogie-woogie take on the Tin Pan Alley classic “After You’ve Gone,” which became a swing-era jam favorite. And they strike a sublime accord on a Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart ballad from 1935, “Little Girl Blue.”
Some delightful surprises here include faithful renditions of Monk’s “Crepuscule With Nellie” and the obscure but alluring Duke Ellington number “Le Sucrier Velours,” both perfromed with the trio, plus a delicate, slightly melancholy solo piano take on the Carol Burnett Show theme song, “I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together.” Wilner’s other affecting originals include the swinging “Silver Cord” and the aptly named closer, “Happy Ending,” a brief burner that no doubt serves as the perfect break song for Wilner when he performs regularly at Smalls in New York.