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Terry Clarke
It’s About Time
BLUE MUSIC GROUP 7023
AAAA 1 /2
It’s About Time is a
remarkable example
of group interplay.
It’s About Time is
rhythm section plus
three saxophonists,
each individually
parceled out over
seven tunes. It is
because the rhythm section is so tight, so capable
of musical e.s.p., that the rotating of horns
in this live recording is almost seamless,
regardless of the material being played.
Veteran drummer Terry Clarke is the epitome
of taste and one hell of a musical facilitator.
Each song is unique unto itself, a kind of standalone
musical universe, but when heard back to
back, It’s About Time, his first as a leader,
works as a total musical statement. There are
the solos, different rhythms, moods, all the
usual props that make for a jazz event. What
makes It’s About Time stand out, though, is the
way the rhythm section (which also includes
guitarist Jim Hall, on four cuts here, and
bassist/pianist Don Thompson) infiltrates and
animates the music
around the successive
visits of tenorists Joe
Lovano (two songs)
and Phil Dwyer
(three), and altoist
Greg Osby (two).
And while the
horns give lots of color
to these seven songs,
the others more than
get into the act with
solos of their own.
Clarke’s sprint on
Lovano’s “Feel Free” and the intro to McCoy
Tyner’s spirited, swinging “Passion Dance” are
examples of composure mingling with fire,
while Hall’s inventive, fun exercises on his
“Say Hello To Calypso” become a study in
how to take simple fragments and build something
that’s both creative and very engaging
(the audiences, across three different concerts
stretching back to 2000, sound lively and
engaged as well). Thompson, who mostly plays
bass but surprises with some very fine piano
down the stretch (the end of “Passion Dance”
leading into a rueful rubato reading of his
“Days Gone By”), plays with the rhythms
(calypso-style on “Say Hello,” swinging on
Dwyer’s “Flanders Road”), soloing here and
there to great affect.
Each horn player has his own style, of
course, but from track to track each fits well
with this band, whether it’s in a more free style
(Lovano on “Feel Free”), open-ended swing
(Dwyer on “Flanders Road”) or edgy/lyrical
(Osby on “All The Things You Are” and
sounding very tenorish on “In A Sentimental
Mood”). With Dwyer and Osby, the band takes
it out in an smooth way, starting with “Days
Gone By” on through to the end, finishing the
show on an unconventional, strictly cool note
(Hall is otherworldly). It’s as if the group were
saying, “Come closer, now that we’ve met.”
It’s an exquisite gesture.
It stands to reason that It’s About Time
should sound so good, considering that Clarke,
Hall and Thompson “go way back,” and that
this album is simply an excellent example of,
what Clarke intends in his own liner notes,
“good no-holds-barred jazz with good people.”
It’s jazz that happens to include three special
horn players as well. —John Ephland
It’s About Time: Feel Free; Say Hello To Calypso; Flanders
Road; Passion Dance; Days Gone By; In A Sentimental Mood;
All The Things You Are. (77:56)
Personnel: Terry Clarke, drums; Joe Lovano (1, 2), Phil Dwyer
(3, 4, 5), tenor saxophone; Greg Osby (6, 7), alto saxophone; Jim
Hall (1, 2, 6, 7), guitar; Don Thompson, bass, piano.
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Ordering info: bluemusicgroup.com
March 2010 DOWNBEAT 75