CDs of Note - Short Takes

Brian Lynch, Unsung Heroes (Hollistic Music Works)

Whether or not they realize it, jazz players owe a serious nod to the many musicians through the years who have influenced and helped shape the branches on the musical tree. In the case of the trumpet tradition, I’m talking about not just the household name players like Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Fats Navarro, etc. But the many others – active or deceased – who’ve been innovators in their own way. Brian Lynch understands this big time. In 2000, he released his Tribute to the Trumpet Masters project to honor Woody Shaw, Kenny Dorham, Thad Jones, Lee Morgan, Blue Mitchell, Charles Tolliver, Booker Little and Tom Harrell. Now he’s out with his 17^th CD as a leader. Unsung Heroes is a multi-faceted project that digs into the music of hornmen who he feels have been influential as players and writers but underappreciated. So he’s put his own creative spotlight on Tommy Turrentine, Howard McGhee, Joe Gordon, Idrees Sulieman, Louis Smith and Kamal Adilifu (Charles Sullivan) and Claudio Roditi.

Vol. 1, released on CD, has nine such tribute tracks, including a Lynch original called “Unsung Blues” and another original called “RoditiSamba” that very much captures the flair and rhythmic lilt of the very-much-alive trumpeter who inspired it. Lynch and his band (pianist Rob Schneiderman, saxophonists Vincent Herring and Alex Hoffman, bassist David Wong, drummer Pete Van Nostrand and conguero Vicente “Little Johnny” Rivero take the music of the aforementioned innovators and add their own contemporary stamp. It is a beautiful project. The music from two additional volumes (extra tunes and alternate takes) are available at Lynch’s website, along with video, play-along formats, sheet music, scores and more. Lynch has developed a great way to pay forward the influences that he absorbed. May he not be the last to do so.

Yellowjackets, Timeline (Mack Avenue)

Time flies when you’re having fun. In this case, 30 years of fun. Timeline is the 21st release by the Yellowjackets. The CD is a terrific synthesis of the qualities that has made this one of the finest true contemporary jazz/fusion bands of its generation. Their sound is contemporary, but the players shouldn’t be confused with a bunch of instrumental popsters. Their playing and credentials are as solid as any mainstream jazz band working today. This is a band that knows how to roar on occasion, but I savor the ballad moments because they are filled with subtleties. The music has beauty, bite, depth and emotion. Since Yellowjackets started out as the backing unit for blues guitarist Robben Ford in 1979 two years before their eponymous debut CD, it is only fitting that Ford makes a guest appearance here. He plays on ”Magnolia,” which was written by founding members Russell Ferrante (keyboards) and Jimmy Haslip (electric bass). My personal favorites are saxophonist Bob Mintzer’s “Why Is It,” drummer Will Kennedy’s “Rosemary” and Ferrante’s beautiful “I Do.”

Ezra Weiss, The Shirley Horn Suite (Roark)

This project from Portland-based pianist Ezra Weiss is a poignant reminder about the singular impact that the late Shirley Horn had on the fine art of blending jazz vocals and piano. It’s a heartfelt tribute, in which Weiss wrote a five-tune suite performed in the style that we most often associate with Horn – her sophisticated and light keyboard touch, her snail’s pace vocal phrasing. He’s done a great job at capturing her classic swinging style. Singer Shirley Nanette adds a complementary vocal appreciation, so canny that piano and voice often feel like they’re coming from one performer. They’ve honored the musical essence of Shirley. Weiss’s other collaborators here include bassist Corcoran Holt and Horn’s longtime drummer, Steve Williams. Weiss interspersed four Horn evergreens – “The Great City,” “I Loves You Porgy,” “Estate” and “Something Happens to Me” – with his tribute pieces. ” Listeners who never had the opportunity to hear Horn in concert may identify a bit with Weiss’s opener, “I Wish I’d Met You.” ”Blues for Shirley,” “May The Most You Wish For” and the aforementioned “The Great City” and “Estate” (both instrumentals) also rise to the top.

Coryell Auger Sample Trio - in concert

Coryell Auger Sample Trio

(Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River MA) Musical chops – and genes – were quite evident during the first East Coast tour of the southern California-based Coryell Auger Sample Trio, which consists of guitarist Julian Coryell, drummer Karma Auger and bassist Nicklas Sample. In a February 11 southern New England performance in support of its self-produced debut CD, Coolidge Returns, and preview of tunes written and recorded for the trio’s sophomore project, CAST (as they abbreviate their grouping) was impressive.

They have an affinity for improvisation and strong interaction. They say that was evident when the first sat down as a group in August 2007 – and developed the music for the project in four hours. They haven’t slowed a bit, describing their collaboration as prolific ever since. 

 It was only fitting that midway through the trio’s long set, they performed “Song For Our Fathers,” a tune from that not-yet-mixed, not-yet-named second CD. With very much the same intent and a bit of the feel of Horace Silver’s classic ”Song for My Father,” this piece is a tribute to guitarist Larry Coryell and keyboard players Brian Auger and Joe Sample. In the hands of his son’s exquisite soloing, the latter track and a tune called “Purple Panther” displayed a very strong Larry Coryell melodic influence. “Purple Panther” additionally underscored the strong interaction that gives this band a jazz-based jam band sort of propulsion. 

Auger’s solid drumming, alternating between delicacy and a firestorm, was an interesting contrast with his rather low-key demeanor. He and Sample provided interesting colors as they shared and shifted rhythms and melodies. The high energy of two vamp-based originals, “Walk of the Dragon” and “Rice Krispy Socrates,” also provided great improvising moments for all three players. Coryell Auger Sample Trio is well on the way to becoming one of the more interesting new fusion bands – able to draw both from its highly credentialed jazz roots, as well as modern rock.