#scott colley

[mostlymonk]

Round Midnight Carmen McRae with Eric Gunnison – piano Scott Colley – bass Mark Pulice – drums

[gottahavesoul]

Chris Potter -  The Source - For John Coltrane (Gratitude, 2001)

Chris Potter - tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto flute, bass clarinet, Chinese wood flute

Kevin Hays - piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano

Scott Colley − bass

Brian Blade - drums

[dustedmagazine]

Nels Cline 4 — Currents, Constellations (Blue Note)

When they teamed up for 2014's Room, avant-garde guitarist Nels Cline and traditionalist (of sorts) Julian Lage explored how their varied approaches could merge. That record played with harmonics, tones and styles, fitting attitudes together and seeing what would happen as two artists trod into each other's territories. Although a complete statement, Room could also be seen as an initial foray, and now the two guitarists have expanded into the Nels Cline 4 quartet, adding bassist Scott Colley (who also played on Lage's recent Modern Lore) and drummer Tom Rainey. With the expansion, the artists take on more varied experiments, playing with some jazz tropes along the way.

 The album opens with a chord almost straight from Cream's “I Feel Free” (but too dissonant for that), then surprisingly moves into a Rainey solo. While the album contains plenty of guitar heroics, those first moments of “Furtive” state that Currents, Constellations means to be a group study. As the piece gets underway, Cline provides the theme, but Colley's bass drives the performance. He plays linear lines, but they don't pause, and its his furtiveness more than anything that creates the mood.  

“Swing Ghost '59” takes a playful look back at jazz. The band swings — really — before completely undercutting that sound. You hear something like Glenn Miller for a second, but not for long. The trick lies in the piece's title: naming a swing track for the year where jazz took major strides into more experimental approaches and demanding compositions doesn't bode well for those dotted eighth notes. The group follows this track with “Imperfect 10,” the sort of piece that sounds more at home in Cline's oeuvre, mixing its jazz with rock influences. 

With “Amenette,” Cline and Lage revisit their own history, reworking a track from Room. Given an extra two minutes and strong drumming from Rainey, the previously bright track takes on an underground feel. “River Mouth (Parts 1 and 2),” rather than smoking in the basement, moves to an expansive outside. Cline handles the lead guitar over Lage's patterns, though sometimes joining their lines. The piece moves loopingly forward, occasionally winding back on itself, but always growing and expanding, broadening like its titular geographic feature until its quiet closing.  

The disc ends in memoriam with “For Each a Flower,” which feels more like a Cline solo piece than anything else here. He reflects in sorrow while his three bandmates support him. It's a bit of an odd closing for an album so full of ideas and energy, but it works as a lovely piece of exit music. With such a harmonious finish, it's easy to imagine that this quartet will drift back together before too long.

Justin Cober-Lake

[nonesuchrecords]

Saxophonist Joshua Redman, drummer Brian Blade, bassist Scott Colley, and cornetist Ron Miles’ new album, Still Dreaming, is out now! The album was inspired by the band Old and New Dreams, of which Redman’s father Dewey was a member. "Consistently riveting," says the Washington Post. Get it and listen today here.

[humongousfanhologram]

Julian Lage - "Nocturne" (Live In Los Angeles)

Julian Lage, Kenny Wollesen and Scott Colley perform "Nocturne" at the Blue Whale on 6/4/16.

[mosaicrecords]

Jim Hall & Bill Frisell: All the Things You Are

Jim Hall was one of the consummate guitarists of his time, having replaced the piano in a wide range of innovative ensembles led by Chico Hamilton, Paul Desmond, Sonny Rollins and Art Farmer among others. Here he interacts with the most eclectic and innovative guitarist of the next generation Bill Frisell on All The Things You Are, with Scott Colley on bass and Joey Baron on drums.

-Michael Cuscuna

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[mostlymonk]

Ruby My Dear

Carmen McRae

Carmen McRae – vocals Clifford Jordan – sax Eric Gunnison – piano Scott Colley – bass Mark Pulice – drums

[mostlymonk]

Evidence

Joey Alexander Trio

Joey Alexander – piano Scott Colley – bass Willie Jones III – drums

From a concert featuring Thelonious Monk tunes this past June which resulted in a recording -Joey.Monk.Live! – just released to coincide with the October Monk Centennial.