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C D REVIEWS
Feet in the Mud
Mimi Jones (Hot Tone Music)
by Philip Freeman
Bassist Mimi Jones owns the Hot Tone label, which
has released a string of excellent records by female
instrumentalists, including pianist Shamie Royston,
saxophonist Camille Thurman and drummer Shirazette
Tinnin. (The only male artist on Hot Tone is pianist
Luis Perdomo, who is also Jones’ husband.) Of course,
it’s also an outlet for her own work: Feet in the Mud is
her third album, following 2009’s A New Day and
2014’s Balance. Primarily a trio disc—Jones (vocals on
six tracks) is joined here by keyboardist Jon Cowherd
and drummer Jonathan Barber—and on three tracks,
Samir Zarif plays soprano saxophone.
The opener “Mr. Poo Poo” sets up a funky organdriven
groove, which shifts into an equally swinging
jazz rhythm. The next piece, “American”, showcases
both the leader’s vocals and bass playing; using
“Ol’ Man River” as her lyrical jumping-off point, but
expanding it into a broader consideration of nature,
Jones heads into a dark and almost ritualistic space,
strumming the bass like Reggie Workman as Barber
cuts loose with militaristic, snapping snare runs.
Cowherd is absent until the final minute, when he
makes a noise sounding like a cross between a theremin
and a frustrated kitten. “The-Min-Or-Way” is another
highlight. Its strutting groove is worthy of Blue Note
circa 1962 and while a tenor or even alto saxophone
would have been a better fit than the soprano, Zarif’s
soloing is bluesy enough, venturing into almost Eric
Dolphy-esque squawks at times.
Zarif is heard to better effect on Wayne Shorter’s
“Fall”. The quartet takes the tender, meditative melody
patiently, allowing Barber to be the dominant voice in
some ways—toward the end, Jones begins singing
along with the horn, wordlessly but beautifully. “The
Grinder”, an acoustic piano trio piece, fades in and
out, as though it is 2:44 sliced from a much longer jam.
Feet in the Mud offers further evidence that Mimi
Jones is an extremely impressive female bassist/
singer/composer and that, yes, jazz can have more
than one of those at a time.
For more information, visit hottonemusic.com. Jones is at
Village Vanguard through Jul. 3rd with Rudy Royston and
Minton’s Jul. 23rd. See Calendar.
Beloved
Kris Allen (Truth Revolution)
by Ken Micallef
Some records blow in like a welcome wind, instantly
lifting you like a bird taking flight on a long, far-flung
journey. Alto and soprano saxophonist Kris Allen’s
Beloved is such a recording, from the opening
“Lowborn” to closing “Threequel” a spirited, fleetfooted,
thoroughly captivating set of original tunes.
A native of West Hartford, Connecticut, where he
studied under the guiding hand of legendary alto
saxophonist Jackie McLean at the Hartt School of
Music, Allen recalls the master in both the framework
of his compositions and his soloing style, but the
influence is natural, never slavish. The sparseness of
Allen’s tunes compels on first listen. While his tone
and soloing style follow the dry linearity of McLean,
the warmth and sense of swing are his alone.
Surrounding himself with an equally adept quartet
of tenor saxophonist Frank Kozyra, bassist (and
co-founder/owner of Truth Revolution Records)
Luques Curtis and drummer Jonathan Barber, Allen’s
tunes breathe and flow forward. Given Barber’s
stylistic kinship with drummer Bill Stewart, there are
rhythmic moments on Beloved that recall the John
Scofield/Joe Lovano quartet, the space between the
notes depicted with a similar sense of openness; as
there is no definitive chordal instrument on the album,
that spaciousness is amplified.
The humidly lovely “Lord Help My Unbelief”
moves cautiously, a slow motion dance prodded by
mallets and sparse bass patter. “Flores”, titled for West
Coast bassist Chuck Flores, works an AfroCuban
groove and popping, McLean-styled melody, but with
an intellectual bent recalling another McLean acolyte:
Steve Lehman. Allen and Kozrya twist and tumble,
their winding solos like surfers riding a wave. The
queasy tones and splayed rhythms of “One for Rory”
are a doppelganger for Wayne Shorter’s “Fall” as
performed on Miles Davis’ Nefertiti. The melody is
equally hallucinogenic if the rhythms are less free. The
group hits the solo sections fully in the pocket while
the head is as disconnected as dice falling down a
staircase. Allen’s tone on the title track is more
apprehensive than loving, but the group’s framework
guides the listener to personal ruminations.
Writing strong compositions for a simpatico
quartet with its own sound and identity, Kris Allen
goes from strength to strength.
For more information, visit truthrevolutionrecords.com.
This project is at Dizzy’s Club through Jul. 2nd.
The Inner Spectrum of Variables
Tyshawn Sorey (Pi)
by Thomas Conrad
Tyshawn Sorey’s sprawling two-hour opus in six
movements was recorded in a marathon 15-hour
session at Systems Two in Brooklyn on Dec. 13th, 2015.
It must have been a challenging day in the studio for
the six musicians involved and engineer Michael
Marciano, a daunting test of creative concentration
and physical endurance. The Inner Spectrum of Variables,
on two CDs, will also test the endurance of listeners.
Those who hang in will receive unique rewards. The
question is how many will.
The ensemble is described as a “double trio”.
There is three-fourths of a string quartet (Chern Hwei
Fung, violin; Kyle Armbrust, viola; Rubin Kodheli,
cello) and Sorey’s working group of pianist Corey
Smythe and bassist Chris Tordini. However you
imagine the double trio will interact, you will be
wrong. Sorey configures the players into every possible
combination and each also plays alone. The genre is
unidentifiable. Because the strings are dominant,
contemporary classical composition is the first
association but there are occasional countrified fiddle
hoe-downs. There are drawn-out, quietly piercing
violin yearnings that suggest a noir film score.
Sometimes, like half way through Movement IV, when
the strings wail over Tordini’s vamp and Sorey’s
rolling groove, it is jazz. But Sorey’s diverse influences
(he includes Anthony Braxton, Bach, Klezmer, Frank
Zappa and “Ethiopian modal jazz” on the list)
aggregate to an austere, unfamiliar sonic landscape.
The suite often proceeds with glacial slowness and
its transitions obey no known logic. Out of silence (or
faint murmurings), veering, scraping lines suddenly
emanate from one or more members of the string trio.
Sometimes Smythe drops piano notes upon them from
above, in a separate, ringing code. Sorey’s percussion
is about color and context, almost never pulse. At two
hours, the piece is too long and sometimes stalls.
The only way to experience this music is to let it
happen to you. Then beauty sometimes surprises you,
when shards of dissonance coalesce in pure melody
like breaking light. Then you discover that Sorey’s
creative process is not illogical, but rather proclaims its
own order, in daring juxtapositions of disparate design
elements. Surprises also hit when Sorey uses Butch
Morris’ concept of “conduction” to direct interludes of
improvisation within his notated composition. Fung,
Armbrust and Kodheli are accomplished musicians
who precisely render the score in rich, resonant
sonorities but they can also cut loose and blow when
Sorey gives them the signal.
When you are done with this record, you feel like
everyone in Systems Two must have felt: exasperated,
exhilarated, exhausted.
For more information, visit pirecordings.com. Sorey is at
The Stone Jul. 3rd with Anthony Coleman, curates and is
there Jul. 5th-10th and is at Rye Jul. 13th with Alan
Bjorklund. See Calendar.
R
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• Mike Baggetta—Spectre
(Fresh Sound-New Talent)
• Chat Noir—Nine Thoughts For One Word
(RareNoise)
• Christy Doran’s Sound Fountain—
Belle Epoque (Between The Lines)
• Tubby Hayes Quartet—The Syndicate:
Live at the Hopbine 1968, Vol. 1 (Gearbox)
• I.P.A.—I Just Did Say Something (Cuneiform)
• Dawda Jobarteh/Stefan Pasborg—
DUO (ILK Music)
• Naftule’s Dream—Blood (s/r)
• Esa Pietila—Times and Spaces (Eclipse Music)
• Lucky Thompson—Bop & Ballads (Sonorama)
• Finn von Eyben—Plays Finn von Eyben/
Finn von Eyben Workshop &
Radiojazzgruppen (1966-1967) (Storyville)
Laurence Donohue-Greene, Managing Editor
• Arashi (Akira Sakata/Johan Berthling/
Paal Nilssen-Love)—Semikujira (Trost)
• Cosmic Brujo Mutafuka—
Rhapsody of the Oppressed (Dimensional)
• Tomasz Dabrowski—S-O-L-O:
30th Birthday/30 Concerts/30 Cities
(Barefoot)
• I.P.A.—I Just Did Say Something (Cuneiform)
• Sunny Murray Quintet—
Aigu - Grave (Futura)
• Nacka Forum—We are the world
(Moserobie Music)
• Dave Rempis/Joshua Abrams/Avreeayl Ra +
Jim Baker—Perihelion (Aerophonic)
• Cuong Vu Trio—Meets Pat Metheny
(Nonesuch)
• Greg Ward & 10 Tongues—
Touch My Beloved’s Thought
(Greenleaf Music)
• Denny Zeitlin—Early Wayne (Solo Wayne)
(Sunnyside)
Andrey Henkin, Editorial Director
16 JULY 2016 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD