Ronnie Cuber & Gary Smulyan – Tough Baritones (Steeplechase)
Tenor tandems have a vaunted and venerated stature in jazz lore. An annotated list of notable encounters could swiftly fill the word count of this review without even really scratching the surface. Baritone tandems are rarified by comparison and commonly include a third horn in the equation. John Coltrane’s Dakar is a classic example and the fact that it was originally a session co-led by baritonists Pepper Adams and Cecil Payne, repackaged to capitalize on the tenorist’s ascendant cachet, helpfully proves the point. Tough Baritones does its modest part to remedy and rectify this historical tendency by placing emphasis justly on two of the most talented purveyors of the burly horn currently in action. Ronnie Cuber has the superior years and experience, but Gary Smulyan is every bit his equal when it comes to bringing out the best in the instrument.
Title and principals inherently make any rhythm section something of an afterthought, but its testament to the co-leader’s confidence and prowess that they opt for one of such excellence. Gary Versace and bassist Jay Anderson are Steeplechase regulars, the former balancing both leader and sideman sessions while the latter is arguably the house bassist for the imprint. Versace plays piano in this context but is also a formidable organist. Jason Tiemann’s fewer credits belie the credible versatility he brings to the cans. Cuber and Smulyan lean into the blowing session amiability of the date with a program dialed into hardbop precedent. “Blowing the Blues Away” is the first of four Horace Silver covers with both baritones belting out of the gate before Cuber bustles to the front for first solo honors.
Red Prysock’s “That’s a Groovy Thing” continues the cerulean sentiments with Cuber again firing off the first salvo after a swinging call and response opening section. Smulyan answers with a throaty rebuttal and both players wear the influence of the aforementioned Adams proudly and prominently. Versace is third in line as soloist but keeps his improvisations within the climates dictated by the horns. Anderson and Tiemann occupy the ensemble passages with equal parts poise and passion. What they forgo in the way of regular individual statements is compensated for by conscientious attention to the greater good. That diligence to utility frees up the co-leaders to concentrate on spirited conversations, as with the angular explosions that surround a rendering of Monk’s “Well You Needn’t.” Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower” demonstrates the duo’s dexterity with a ballad line, while Cuber’s closing “Intervals” test the team’s mettle on a devious original. Safe to say that the baritone tandem lineage has a new benchmark.
SteepleChase Records 391950
I rarely write about jazz, mostly because it is a genre with which I am less familiar. I confess to a lack of knowledge (though I’m working on it) of jazz, especially of the last twenty years or so. And as a result I have some reluctance to write about jazz but when I first listened to this disc I found that the music spoke to this listener’s ears immediately and…
SteepleChase Records 391950
I rarely write about jazz, mostly because it is a genre with which I am less familiar. I confess to a lack of knowledge (though I’m working on it) of jazz, especially of the last twenty years or so. And as a result I have some reluctance to write about jazz but when I first listened to this disc I found that the music spoke to this listener’s ears immediately and…
Tenorist Rich Perry tends to toe a musical trajectory rich in melodic deconstruction and harmonic complexity. Other Matters, his twenty-fifth album for the Danish Steeplechase label, is no different in that regard. Where it does deviate and subsequently live up to the promise of its title is an intrepid reliance on original material. Much of Perry’s previous output as a leader and sideman is steeped in interpretations of the Great American Songbook. Creatively rendered takes on standards are his buttered bread. Here, he eschews those ingredients completely and fields an ace ensemble in the service of tunes that draw elliptically on the influence of another sacred elephant in the room that is modern jazz: John Coltrane.
Coltrane’s Classic Quartet with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones endures as one of the indelible templates for scalar improvisation in the idiom. Perry pulls from this source without the slightest bit of plagiarism. “Transparency” blooms from a Satie-like motif plied by pianist Gary Versace that forms the tonal center around which Perry delicately threads a pastoral solo. “Ohayo” shifts the center to rhythmic swish of drummer John Riley’s brushes and another Perry improvisation plied through an Eastern-influenced melodic progression. Versace comps discretely and bassist Jay Anderson is more of a feeling than a presence, but the pair are integral to the action as propellants.
Spatial dynamics drive and define “Sonos”, “Neta”, and “Mndfl”. Another fragile piano figure ignites the first with Perry’s flirtations coming in abbreviated starts and stops that distantly recall the sort of subterfuge that’s still the signature of Wayne Shorter. Anderson folds in a brief bass detour amid Riley’s cymbal splashes while Versace trades in alternating cascades and pointillism. The other two are kindred compositions from the perspective of minor key ballads in the spirit if not letter of Coltrane’s “Lonnie’s Lament.” There’s a refreshing flavor of pan-directional freedom to all of it; that exceptional combination of expert players assembled in an egalitarian consensus on a parcel of tunes ripe for personalized contextualization. In short, it’s at once the album that Perry’s been meaning to make and listeners loyal and newly-minted have been waiting for.
JazzX5 es un minipodcast de HDO de la Factoría Tomajazz presentado, editado y producido por Pachi Tapiz.
JazzX5 comenzó su andadura el 24 de junio de 2019.
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