BRIAN SCARBOROUGH - Sunflower Song
Next Level 2028
Brian Scarborough (tb); Matt Otto (ts); Adam Schlozman (elg); Jeff Harshbarger (b); Brian Steever (d)
Recorded Kansa City January 6 & 7 2020.
Brian Scarborough is a stay at home type, veteran trombone player and bandleader. Living and working in his home- town of Kansas City, he talks about the beauty of the area on the press release for this issue. It maybe that he is not as well known as he should be because he has rarely, it seems, ventured far from KC although he is a very skilled and inventive trombonist. This quintet works well on nine original compositions, all penned by Scarborough. They may not be particularly distinctive, but all provide good jumping off points for the soloists. First track up is This One’s For John which contains a hardy trombone solo. Brief tenor sax and solid backing by the rhythm section. Schlozman plays brisk, sparkling guitar solos here and on most tracks and is effective providing the chordal element in the section in the absence of a piano. City Lights begins with military style drumming behind solo trombone. Then the full band come in. A smooth trombone solo is followed by tenor sax man Otto who favours a light, melodic sound. His solos are well structured and complex at times although the sound of his instrument is warm and lyrical, more Lester Young than Hank Mobley but in a modern, hard bop manner.
Tempos vary considerably on this programme and occasionally have a stop and then start again quality. Something Miles Davis once called ‘stopping and swinging.’ By the seventh track on this CD the band seem to have settled in completely and there is a more relaxed yet insistent swing in the music. Willard’s Blues is a medium tempo example of the genre and the set ends with a rousing, up tempo workout on Empty Bottles. Much of the session is laid back and the tempos rarely go above medium. Scarborough and Schlozman are interesting soloists and the tenor player Otto has an original approach. No fireworks or explosions here but good solid solo and ensemble work throuhout.
Reviewed by Derek Ansell
Next Level 2028
Brian Scarborough (tb); Matt Otto (ts); Adam Schlozman (elg); Jeff Harshbarger (b); Brian Steever (d)
Recorded Kansa City January 6 & 7 2020.
Brian Scarborough is a stay at home type, veteran trombone player and bandleader. Living and working in his home- town of Kansas City, he talks about the beauty of the area on the press release for this issue. It maybe that he is not as well known as he should be because he has rarely, it seems, ventured far from KC although he is a very skilled and inventive trombonist. This quintet works well on nine original compositions, all penned by Scarborough. They may not be particularly distinctive, but all provide good jumping off points for the soloists. First track up is This One’s For John which contains a hardy trombone solo. Brief tenor sax and solid backing by the rhythm section. Schlozman plays brisk, sparkling guitar solos here and on most tracks and is effective providing the chordal element in the section in the absence of a piano. City Lights begins with military style drumming behind solo trombone. Then the full band come in. A smooth trombone solo is followed by tenor sax man Otto who favours a light, melodic sound. His solos are well structured and complex at times although the sound of his instrument is warm and lyrical, more Lester Young than Hank Mobley but in a modern, hard bop manner.
Tempos vary considerably on this programme and occasionally have a stop and then start again quality. Something Miles Davis once called ‘stopping and swinging.’ By the seventh track on this CD the band seem to have settled in completely and there is a more relaxed yet insistent swing in the music. Willard’s Blues is a medium tempo example of the genre and the set ends with a rousing, up tempo workout on Empty Bottles. Much of the session is laid back and the tempos rarely go above medium. Scarborough and Schlozman are interesting soloists and the tenor player Otto has an original approach. No fireworks or explosions here but good solid solo and ensemble work throuhout.
Reviewed by Derek Ansell
