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Paul Wertico’s
Mid-East/Mid-
West Alliance
Impressions Of A City
CHICAGO SESSIONS 01V10
AAAA 1 /2
John Moulder
Bifröst
ORIGIN 82546
AAA 1 /2
While drummer Paul
Wertico appears on both
of these albums, the two
could not be more different and still be considered
inside the jazz tent. Consider that guitarist
John Moulder and electric bassist Brian Peters
round the “rhythm section” on Impressions Of A
City and Bifröst and the contrast becomes even
more striking.
Moulder’s “Bifrost” features the drummer in
a more conventional role, while Impressions Of
A City might be considered an album that
includes drums but in a more experimental way.
Indeed, Impressions is altogether another animal,
but first consider the relative calm of
Bifröst, fellow Chicagoan Moulder’s followup
to his Trinity (2006). The first thing one may
notice is Moulder’s penchant for going back and
forth between his acoustic and electric guitars.
That he plays his six- and 12-string acoustics in
a manner that at times might recall Ralph
Towner’s music with Jan Garbarek (thanks to
the full-bodied tenor saxophone sounds of
Bendik Hofseth) is not surprising. Bifröst sports
Hofseth with fellow Norwegian bassist Arild
Andersen, both whom help give the project a
kind of ECM flavor. But with Peters on board to
help with programming
and Wertico’s
selective drumming
played with an
ongoing sense of
threat (hear his
expansive side on
“Time Being”),
Bifröst hints at a
kind of two-in-one,
alternating musical
experience: the
more contemplative
forays heard on the
haunting song cycle “Cold Sea Triptych” and
the intros to “Watch Your Step” and “Magical
Space” sidled up against the more rock-ish outlays
of “Watch Your Step,” both worlds made
manifest on the title track and the closing 15-
minute “Time Being.”
But for every rock and otherwise edgy gesture
found with Bifröst, Moulder’s 10 compositions
can’t hold a candle to Wertico’s hour-pluslong
journeys through what one might assume is
a sonic, sometimes lyrical, sometimes ambient
and/or noise, portrait of Chicago. Completely
improvised (much of which doesn’t really sound
“improvised”), Impressions takes Bifröst’s more
cohesive group mindset and turns it inside-out,
seemingly challenging everyone, including
Peters (on electric bass as well as piano, violin
and various programs) along with the equally
eclectic reed player Danny Markovitch and guitarist
Dani Rabin playing in tandem with and
opposite Moulder. With titles like “What Should
I Wear Today,” “The Boss Needs To See You”
and “A Chance To Breathe,” it becomes apparent
that Impressions includes lots of backward
glancing, the titles served up in a kind of chronological
“day in the life of the city” that suggests
for Wertico’s new Mid-East/Mid-West Alliance
band that urban life, at least life in the City of
Big Shoulders, can be sweet but is mostly full of
clamor and seeming chaos (an alternate title
could very well be “Expressions Of A City”).
Both impressionistic (“Beauty Wherever You
Can Find It”) and (especially) expressionistic
(“Bumper To Bumper,” “The Inside Track”),
what makes the music work is not only that
Wertico is not content to just “play it straight” as
a drummer but that his skills as a conceptualist/
leader may be even greater, helping to create a
compelling, and not altogether scattershot series
of musical surprises. A heads-up for all budding
drummers (check out Wertico’s inventive pause
of a solo on “My Side Of The Story”) who
would like to hear and create music that goes
beyond just keeping time. —John Ephland
Impressions Of A City: A Light Too Soon; What Should I Wear
Today; Bumper To Bumper; Late Again; Beauty Wherever You
Can Find It; The Boss Needs To See You; 15 Minutes For
Lunch; I Probably Shouldn’t Have Done That; The Inside Track;
A Chance To Breathe; Lake Fish Flowers; My Side Of The Story;
Word Salad; Closing The Deal; Drive At Five; Reflections On The
Day; I Think I’m Hungry; Good Night And Good Luck. (62:50)
Personnel: Paul Wertico, drums; John Moulder, electric guitar,
acoustic guitar, fretless guitar; Brian Peters, elecrtric bass,
duduk, shvi, soundscapes, synthesizer, violin, piano; Dani Rabin,
electric guitar, looping, prepared guitar, slides; Danny
Markovitch, electric soprano/tenor saxophones.
»
Bifröst: Bifröst; Watch Your Step (Introduction); Watch Your
Step; Magical Space; Echoes Of Home; Cold Sea Triptych: Part,
Part 2, Part 3; Time Being. (58:09)
Personnel: John Moulder, electric guitars, 12-string and sixstring
acoustic guitars; Bendik Hofseth, tenor saxophone; Arild
Andersen, acoustic bass; Paul Wertico, drums, percussion;
Brian Peters, electric fretless bass, programming.
»
Ordering info: chicagosessions.com
Ordering info: origin-records.com
Steve Hobbs
Vibes, Straight Up
CHALLENGE 3285
AAA
If you like your jazz
straight down the
middle, with the standards
approach top of
mind, vibist Steve
Hobbs and his Vibes,
Straight Up fit the
bill. Straight down the
middle, in this case,
means swinging, and also in this case, moving
more often than not.
For starters, the band kicks it into high gear
with the standard fast-paced attack on
“Cherokee.” Hobbs and pianist Bill O’Connell
share the solo spotlight in tandem, Hobbs getting
more bars to the beat over McConnell
(leader’s prerogative), “Cherokee” highlighting
both instrumentalists but especially Hobbs’
symmetrical mallet technique, both players deft
at playing against the beat.
But while “Cherokee” is a
great album starter in most
cases, it’s the one song here
that suggests a slower
tempo might have been a
better call, the band a bit off
in the department of balancing
swing with a faster
tempo.
“Hey Good Lookin’” is
more successful and points
to what is probably the optimum
tempo for all concerned,
the medium groove making it clear
these guys can swing and take a hackneyed
tune and make it work as a “jazz standard.” As
for the ballads here, again, this is territory that
seems marked out for them, “Stars Fell On
Alabama” given a typically slow reading,
bassist Peter Washington and drummer John
Riley playing the rhythm with a steady but
relaxed pulse as they back up the principal
soloists, both of whom turn in typically lyrical
solos (McConnell’s is clipped more than usual
here). The slightly re-harmonized backbeat-driven
“St. James Infirmary” offers some rhythmic
contrast at a now-familiar medium tempo,
Hobbs double-tempo-ing his lines along the
way to keep things interesting.
The balance of the program continues apace,
with another unusual pick in “The Woody The
Woodpecker Song,” more ballads (another nice
reharmonization on “What A Difference A Day
Makes”), some Latin, a few deft time-signature
moves on another unconventional tune, “Wade
In The Water.” All in all, it’s well-played jazz
that won’t necessarily grab your attention; but
with those odd song selections, this middle-ofthe-road
take on jazz just might have humming
in the shower.
—John Ephland
Vibes, Straight Up: Cherokee; Hey Good Lookin’; Stars Fell On
Alabama; St. James Infirmary; The Woody The Woodpecker
Song; Shenandoah; The Old Rugged Cross; What A Difference
A Day Makes; Wade In The Water. (53:59)
Personnel: Steve Hobbs, vibraphone; Bill O’Connell, piano;
Peter Washington, bass; John Riley, drums.
»
Ordering info: challengerecords.com
84 DOWNBEAT March 2010