- Bruce Harris: trumpet
- Dmitry Baevsky: alto sax
- Frank Basile: baritone sax
- Andy Farber: tenor sax
- Grant Stewart: tenor sax
- Jerry Weldon: tenor sax
- Michael Weiss: piano
- Clovis Nicolas: bass
- Pete Van Nostrand: drums
There are so many factors to being an accomplished jazz musician. But just to focus on one, soloing is a crucial part of jazz music, regardless of the instrument. I’ve always had a lot of respect for the music of Wynton Marsalis and one of the many reasons is his soloing. When Wynton solos it always sounds fresh. The complete absence of overworked clichés, combined with incredibly fitting choice of notes, choice of riffs, choice of embellishments… it all just makes for an incredibly pleasurable listening experience. And Wynton does it better than anyone else I know. It all sounds new and original, and yet it fits so well and just feels like notes and chord progressions that were destined to be combined since the beginning of time. So why all this blabber about Wynton? Because Bruce Harris is a young trumpeter from New York who on this, his first release, displays an amazingly mature ability to solo in the manner described above. Harris is really good! As he improvises his solos he comes up with notes and lines that sound absolutely perfect. They just do! I recently encounters Harris’ name on another CD and got curious so I found and quickly ordered this CD. I’m really glad I did. All of the musicians are new to me. I guess it just goes to show how out of touch I am with the younger generation of jazz musicians. These are all really accomplished players and yet somehow, I’m just hearing about them now. It makes me want to look up each and every one of them but I’m afraid of what that would do to the pocket book! Anyway, below are my brief thoughts and comments on each cut.
Ask Questions: (original) Infectiously upbeat. Great mood, great solos, sounds like a time-honored standard tune.
Ill Wind: A true classic by one of America’s most prolific song-writers. Groovy swing with the in-the-pocket drums and boppy bass setting the mood. Laidback soloing that goes right along with the groovy sound. Harris determines the solo groove with his muted horn and everyone else follows along. Horn arrangement is actually quite sophisticated and tight. Harris’ soloing is mature. No clichés and yet sounds incredibly relevant.
Mr. Blakey: More of a bandstand sound. But Harris’ solo is crazy good. So original, so in the groove, so deep in the changes.
Snowbound: ballad. More muted Harris. The soloing shines!
The Step: (original) some sort of inverted blues chord progression. After the march like intro it melds into a swinging piano solo. Followed by muted trumpet solo. It all sounds so pulled together… laid back blues… two tenor solos followed by the first bass solo of the record.
Do U Lie?: (prince) Weird choice for a song, but then this Prince number was weird to begin with. Actually sounds more normal and at home here than it does on Prince’s original release in 1986.
Una Noche Con Francis: The Bud Powell classic, sounding just as frolicky as it did in the original. Sounds like a soundtrack to a comedy TV show from the sixties. First combination of alto, tenor and baritone. Sounds really rich and full.
So Near, So Far: (original) Ballad. Muted again. Really classy trumpet solo with staccato piano accompanying midway thru.
All in all, this CD was a great find for me and I heartily recommend it to anyone! Check it out!
Jim's Jazz Notes 