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Ralph Peterson’s
Unity Project
Outer Reaches
Onyx Music Label
HHHH
On Outer Reaches, drummer Ralph
Peterson pays tribute to Larry
Young’s 1965 Blue Note album
Unity, a watershed moment for the
Hammond organ in jazz. Unity
looked toward the wide-open harmonic
landscape created by John
Coltrane, Miles Davis and McCoy
Tyner; it liberated the organ from
the omnipresent blues repertoire.
Outer Reaches begins as a repertoire
project. Peterson mimics Unity’s instrumentation—tenor,
trumpet, organ, drums—
and performs four of the compositions. The
album showcases some promising, if largely
unheralded, young musicians. Organ player
Pat Bianchi’s bop sensibilities remain mostly
in the pocket. The charts feature some nice
arrangements, the solos are well played and
the group is pushed along by Peterson, who’s
in excellent form.
But the last four tracks of Outer Reaches
embrace the mystique of the original, if not
Young’s singular approach. Things loosen up
on Young’s “Ritha” during a duet occurring in
the middle of the track between Peterson and
Bianchi. The group pushes the boundaries on
Starlicker
Double Demon
Delmark 2011
HHHH
Double Demon is an excellent example
of less producing more. Cornetist Rob
Mazurek’s quintet, with its two-bass lineup
and its strategic applications of studio
retouching to live performances, came
up with a solid effort, Sound Is. But even
before he had assembled the five-piece he
had this smaller assemblage in mind, and
after completing Sound Is he began figuring
out what to do with it.
The answer was to stop telling us
what sound is and simply be sound.
Sound as a force, sound as a presence,
sound as a mass of interacting waves that fill
all available space. This music is designed
to set free the overtones that result when you
strike or blow metal instruments—horn, vibes,
cymbals—as hard as you can. Mazurek could
not have chosen better men for the job. Jason
Adasiewicz is a drummer as well as a vibraphonist,
and he delights in bringing down his
mallets with such vigor that he can feel unforgiving
metal bars give beneath his blows. John
Herndon’s early musical experiences were with
rock bands, and while he can swing when the
music requires him to do so, he has no qualms
Woody Shaw’s “Zoltan”—which features guitarist
David Fiuczynski’s first of two cameos—and
“We Three Kings.” Fiuczynski then
jump-starts John McLaughlin’s “Spectrum,”
imbuing the track with primal energy.
At around 79 minutes, the CD includes nearly
enough material for two releases. Perhaps content
should have been more of a consideration:
one straight-ahead album, the other more eclectic.
All in all, Outer Reaches should be judged on
its own merits.
—Eric Fine
Outer Reaches: The Moontrane; Monk’s Dream; Outer Reaches;
Katrina Ballerina; Beyond All Limits; On My Side; An Inside Job;
Beyond My Wildest Dream; Ritha; Zoltan; We Three Kings; Spectrum.
(78:47)
Personnel: Ralph Peterson, drums, trumpet; Pat Bianchi, organ;
Jovan Alexandre, tenor saxophone; Josh Evans, trumpet; David
Fiuczynski, guitar (10, 12).
Ordering info: ralphpetersonmusic.com
about whipping up an unrelenting barrage. The
trio’s attack is bracingly physical, and yet it is
never overwhelming. The tunes Mazurek has
written for this project are as sturdy and memorable
as any he’s ever recorded. They’re also
refreshingly simple; by stripping out all the
inessentials, Mazurek and his confederates
have made music that speaks directly.
—Bill Meyer
Double Demon: Double Demon; Vodou Cinque; Orange Blossom;
Andromeda; Triple Hex; Skull Cave. (38:17)
Personnel: Rob Mazurek, cornet; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone;
John Herndon, drums.
Ordering info: delmark.com
The Headhunters
Platinum
Owl Studios 139
HHH
In the early ’70s, The Headhunters was the first
word in jazz-funk of the artistic-while-accessible
kind. The band that Herbie Hancock
built managed to cross seamlessly between
a respected jazz vibe to uncommonly populist
stature. The Headhunters has continued,
off and on, post-Hancock, and comes on mostly
strong with this new, valiant effort at an eraand
genre-bridging album. However seductive
and true the current band, strengthened by the
formidable, slinky-cool and anchoring presence
of drummer Mike Clark, The Headhunters sans
Hancock can feel vaguely incomplete.
The musical map here heeds the group’s
heritage, with such clearly ’70s-geared tracks
as the “Chameleon” tribute “Salamander,”
“Congo Place” and the Latin-fired “Head
Hunting.” Also of key importance to the project’s
aim is a linkage to later and current reverberations
of the jazz-funk-hip-hip vocabulary,
including the rap-fitted opener “Mission
Statement” and “D-Funk (Funk with Us),” a
generation-hopping cameo turn with Snoop
Dog, George Clinton, Killah Priest and
Cynthia Lane.
In this Headhunters, original percussionist
Bill Summers is in the ranks, while charter saxophonist/bass
clarinetist Bennie Maupin only
plays a fleeting guest role. Much of the musical
power comes from keyboardist Patrice Rushen,
saxophonist Donald Harrison and bassist
Richie Goods.
Short interlude tracks along the way, framed
by opening and closing chants “nam-myohorenge-kyo”
from the Nichiren Buddhist practice
maintained by Hancock and other jazz musicians,
add hipness on impact but lose their charm
after the first spin. —Josef Woodard
Platinum: Platinum Intro; Mission Statement; Reality Of It; Salamander;
I Predict A Good Year; D-Funk; I Feel Really Good About;
Tracle; Rehearse Everybody; Paging Mr. Wesley; M Trane; Apple
Tree; Palm Nut; Years Of Touring; Congo Place; On The Road;
Head Hunting; Skizness; Soul Glow; Platinum Outro. (70:44)
Personnel: Mike Clark, drums; Bill Summers, percussion; Patrice
Rushen, Gary Mielke, Kyle Roussel, keyboards; Donald Harrison,
saxophones, key bass; Bennie Maupin, saxophones; Richie
Goods, bass; Derrick Gardner, trumpet; Jerry Stucker, guitar; Rob
Dixon, saxophones; Snoop Dog, George Clinton, Killah Priest, Cynthia
Lane, Jaecyn Bayne and Private Pile, vocals.
Ordering info: owlstudios.com
48 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2011