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Jazz | BY JAMES HAlE
Distilling Beauty from The low End
Bottom heavy—with Michael Blake’s bass
clarinet and two grinding electric guitars joining
Ben Allison’s bass—Action-Refraction (Palmetto
2149; 43:32 ★★★) shares a fondness
for the forms and bombast of prog-rock with
The Bad Plus. The comparison is most apt
on pounding versions of Donny Hathaway’s
“Some Day We’ll All Be Free” and PJ Harvey’s
“Missed” and an arch rendition of Paul Williams’
“We’ve Only Just Begun.” Balancing
that tendency to build dense sonic walls is an
ultra-minimalist take on Neil Young’s “Philadelphia,”
which sounds achingly beautiful.
ordering info: palmetto-records.com
More mash-up than album, bassist Greg
Byers’ Some Dark, Beautiful Morning (selfrelease;
35:31 ★★) begins with a lushly textured
blend of dark strings and then veers into
techno, ersatz Frank Zappa and sludgy jazzrock
fusion. It hits its nadir with a self-indulgent
piece called “Snake Tail” that is rife with banal
lyrics and terrible singing by Byers. There
is no question he has big ears when it comes
to influences, and his instrumental work has
some interesting moments, but it sounds like
Byers might have benefitted from an outside
producer who knows when things are going
over the top.
ordering info: gregbyersmusic.com
One of Europe’s most prolific improvising
artists, Joëlle Léandre stretches out with two
different bands on Can You Hear Me? (leo
594/595; 53:53/46:58 ★★★★), recorded live
over two nights in 2009. Her string-heavy
tentet sounds like it could use either more rehearsal
time or a tighter course to follow; its
movements are somewhat predictable and the
parts seldom coalesce into a larger whole. Her
trio, on the other hand, with pianist John Tilbury
and vibraphonist Kevin Norton, expands
textural shards into a piece of extraordinary
beauty and tenderness. Slow to unfold and
highly gestural, the trio’s improvisation shifts
and turns to both catch the light and reveal a
darker core.
Ben Allison
ordering info: leorecords.com
Moon And Sand (Tosky 004; 55:49
★★★½) begins so off-handedly—with a threeminute
solo piano intro to Alec Wilder’s title
composition—that the contrast to the hard
bop take on Billy Strayhorn’s “Johnny Come
Lately” is extremely stark. Leader Michel Rosciglione
is a sturdy bass player with an attractive
tone, but he dodges the role of composer,
instead favoring Kenny Kirkland (two pieces),
Christian McBride and John Coltrane. Bandmates
Vincent Bourgeyx and Remi Vignolo get
a slot each, leaving the listener wondering just
what Rosciglione imparts. No matter, both the
trio and quintet versions of his group sound
confident and practiced.
ordering info: toskyrecords.com
Exceptionally self-effacing as a leader,
bassist Sean Smith gives so much of Trust
(Smithereen 1001; 69:38 ★★★½) over to
guitarist John Hart and saxophonist John Ellis
that the quartet sounds like a co-operative
band. Hart’s attack is taut and incisive, particularly
on “Wayne’s World,” and Ellis’ soprano
dominates “Occam’s Razor.” But, while Trust
is a pleasant outing by a quartet that sounds
more than competent, there is a certain lack
of distinctive character. On tenor, Ellis rarely
digs any deeper than mid-register, and Smith’s
compositions bear few unique signatures.
ordering info: seansmithjazz.com
Featuring three separate sextets anchored
by bassist Charles Thomas, The Colors Of A
Dream (Sea Tea 104; 68:01 ★★★) is a hardboppers’
fantasy, rife with unison horn lines
and sturdy rhythm sections. The raucous Latin
beat of “Sunburst” and the loping pace of “The
Blue Sea” are attractive, and the crisp trumpet
of Mike Olmos on the storming “Git Wid
It” and “Pride’s Glide” is a clear instrumental
highlight. Less winning is the leader’s wobbly
vocal outing on “My Foolish Heart” and the
obvious technical inequality between the three
saxophonists who are featured. DB
ordering info: charlesthomasmusic.com
courtesy Ben allison
JULY 2011 DOWNBEAT 53