MTB: Solid Jackson

-
Listen to the title track on 'Solid Jackson' by MTB when you can. Thank me later. A collaboration between Brad Mehldau (piano), Mark Turner (tenor saxophone) and Peter Bernstein (guitar), this album brings together some of the finest jazz musicians of our time.


Recorded in November 2023 and out now on Criss Cross records, Solid Jackson reveals the jazz these musicians produce at the highest level, together with Larry Grenadier (bass) and Bill Stewart (drums).

Begin with the title track and you won't go far wrong. We hear each part in ensemble and solo mode, with a collective intensity that is both joyous and controlled. Similarly, the start of The Things That Fall Away really shows modern jazz at its sweetest - Bernstein's guitar melody is joined by Turner's sax and the whole ensemble underpins their interplay, with Mehldau's sparing piano edging into a lovely solo where each note matters.

Bernstein says: “There was a natural blend. We all go way back, and everyone was very comfortable being around each other. One thing I like about making a record is that you’re able to spend a day with people you’ve been meaning to hang out with for a long time. It’s not just a party. You’re working, too. But that’s how we interact socially – by playing music. I was amazed. It’s 30 years after we did the first one, but everyone is relatively intact. It’s really a miracle. We’re all still here; we get to play together again.”

There are many reasons that Solid Jackson finds its way onto my list of top ten albums of 2024. By the time we reach the final track - Ode to Angela - I'm already hunting gigs where I can see these exceptional musicians performing together. Three of the busiest and most in demand players in their field, I guess it's not going to be easy but, for now, this album is staying on my playlist.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Big Wade - 'Piano Man' out now

-
Image
Big Wade and Black Swan Theory collectively blends funk, soul, jazz and everything that fills the cracks between those genres: his new album -  Piano Man - on all major streaming platforms ahead of the Piano Man Tour 2024 , which has dates across the US. Piano Man  brings a selection of original and covers, including a stunning version of Autumn Leaves , which reinvents the song as the funky, electronic Autumn . Big Wade's voice takes the song's melody and improvises around and around, with backing vocals and a deliberately sparse arrangement underpinning the song. Similarly, on Children of the Ghetto , the lead and backing vocals blend in with the soulful musicians of Black Swan Theory. Electronics are used with dexterity, often expanding the vocal lines, as in the ethereal and ghostly opening of Don't Let Me Go . However, the tools never dominate - simply adding depth and layers to the funk. Never more than when Big Wade enters a new world in Interludes , including vocals...
Read more

The Darius Brubeck Quartet live at Jazz Cafe Posk

-
Image
My first visit to Jazz Cafe Posk in London's Hammersmith coincided with the 60th anniversary of Posk - The Polish Social and Cultural Association - and the first performance in the club by pianist and composer Darius Brubeck. Photo credit @ Hilary Seabrook Darius was 10 when he joined his father on a historic tour of Poland. The Dave Brubeck Quartet toured Poland from 6 to 18 March 1958, just three years after the communist regime's ban on jazz was lifted. Without a doubt, this was the biggest jazz event in post-war Poland, with the archetypal and hugely successful outfit of Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass) and Joe Morello (drums). Sixty years later, in  2018, Darius took his own quartet - the same one he brought to Posk in May 2024 - to Poland for a significant tour, recorded and released as the Live in Poland album. Several of the tracks from this album were in the set at Posk and this quartet displayed in depth the benefits of playing to...
Read more

‘Memory in Motion’ with The Jazz Defenders

-
Image
A packed Pizza Express in London’s Soho was blasted by The Jazz Defenders as they unleashed their new album on the world - celebrating International Jazz Day 2024 in style. The Jazz Defenders Memory in Motion is a great album, out now on Haggis Records , with touches of Horace Silver and tinges of Herbie Hancock. There was something slightly disconcerting about an electronic keyboard sitting on top of the wonderful Dean Street Steinway and George Cooper handled them both with a dexterity and panache that made it all make sense. A talented bunch, The Jazz Defenders take their influences from wherever they choose, including some of the other ensembles in which they strut their stuff.  Horns are courtesy of Jake McMurchie (tenor sax) and Nick Malcolm (trumpet) and they are as much at ease on stabbing and intricate lines as they are on solos through the tracks. A solid rhythm and added excitement comes from Ian Matthews (drums) and Will Harris (double bass and bass guitar). Matthews ...
Read more