CHARNETT MOFFETT - New Love
Motéma MTM0374
Charnett Moffett (fretless electric bass, vocals); Jana Herzen (guitar, vocals); Corey Garcia (drums); Malik Koly (drums); Irwin Hall (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto flute)
Recorded 3-4 December 2019 Pinch Studios, Brooklyn, New York
Most eight-year old boys are busy playing with their friends, but when Charnett Moffett was that age, he was playing bass, and touring and recording with his father, the free jazz drummer Charles Moffett. Moffett senior played drums with Ornette Coleman, and the name Charnett is a portmanteau of Charles and Ornette. Talented doesn’t even begin to describe this bassist, who appears on more than 200 albums and has played with a vast array of musicians, including, Art Blakey, Ornette Coleman, Joe Henderson, Tony Williams, McCoy Tyner, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Wallace Roney, Dizzy Gillespie and David Sanborn.
Moffett is equally adept on both acoustic bass and electric bass, and for a good example of the former, I can highly recommend the beautiful track ‘For You’ from his 1987 debut solo album Net Man, which highlights both his arco and pizzicato skills. If you want to experience his electric bass playing, then look no further than this album, which features him on fretless bass. The twelve tunes have all been composed by Moffett and feature his wife, guitarist Jana Herzen (the New Love referred to in the album’s title) and drummer Corey Garcia, who plays on all but two of the tracks - the other drummer is Malick Koly. The first five numbers are trio recordings, with the remaining tunes adding Irwin Hall on woodwinds.
The album opens with ‘Swinging In The Realms,’ a lively number whose jaunty theme reminds me of ‘Happy Days Are Here Again.’ Garcia lays down a nervous-sounding pulse, with Herzen playing jagged, jitterry lines, with Moffett’s rich, deep tone and smooth movement between lower and higher registers underpinning it all. Garcia also plays a rousing solo – it’s an excellent opener. The delicate-sounding ‘We Remember’ begins with a call-and-response theme played by Moffett and Herzen. Herzen’s sparse guitar lines complement Moffett’s deft melodic playing, which includes wah-wah effects.
‘Higher Dimensions’ has the band exploring Ornette Coleman’s harmodolics, whereby harmony, melody and rhythm are of equal weight. The agitated-sounding tune has Garcia playing a skittering beat as Herzen’s guitar doubles up with Moffett’s bass in places. Moffett plays a furious run of 16th notes, laced with wah-wah and slap. By contrast, ‘I Didn’t Know’ is a graceful, reflective piece, with Hall’s ethereal tenor sax gently washing over Moffett’s melodic phrasing. ‘ETQ’ has an Eastern-feel, with its theme played together on bass and soprano sax. Hall solos powerfully on soprano as Herzen adds wah-wah effects to the mix, with Moffett playing a wah-wah-infused solo and Koly laying down a heavy beat. The last four tunes feature Moffett on vocals, with Herzen joining on the last three. ‘New Love’ is a love letter to Herzen. Moffett’s vocals have a smooth, light tone and he sings and plays with much feeling, with Hall’s alto flute fluttering around like a butterfly in the wind. ‘Spirit & Bride Song’ is where jazz meets Afro music meets dub. The heavy bass groove and syncopated beat is accompanied by Moffett and Herzen’s mellifluous vocals and some spoken word – it’s an excellent track and one of my favourites on the album. ‘Love For The People’ has a cool, Caribbean feel with breezy tenor sax lines mingling with a syncopated groove, while the closing number, ‘Rejoice’ has Moffett and Herzel singing the joyous theme together – if the sheer joy in their voices doesn’t lift your heart, nothing will. This is an excellent album clearly inspired by love, and which is superbly performed and executed. We can only be grateful that when Charnett Moffett was a little boy; he wanted to play with a bass guitar rather than toys.
Reviewed by George Cole
Motéma MTM0374
Charnett Moffett (fretless electric bass, vocals); Jana Herzen (guitar, vocals); Corey Garcia (drums); Malik Koly (drums); Irwin Hall (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto flute)
Recorded 3-4 December 2019 Pinch Studios, Brooklyn, New York
Most eight-year old boys are busy playing with their friends, but when Charnett Moffett was that age, he was playing bass, and touring and recording with his father, the free jazz drummer Charles Moffett. Moffett senior played drums with Ornette Coleman, and the name Charnett is a portmanteau of Charles and Ornette. Talented doesn’t even begin to describe this bassist, who appears on more than 200 albums and has played with a vast array of musicians, including, Art Blakey, Ornette Coleman, Joe Henderson, Tony Williams, McCoy Tyner, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Wallace Roney, Dizzy Gillespie and David Sanborn.
Moffett is equally adept on both acoustic bass and electric bass, and for a good example of the former, I can highly recommend the beautiful track ‘For You’ from his 1987 debut solo album Net Man, which highlights both his arco and pizzicato skills. If you want to experience his electric bass playing, then look no further than this album, which features him on fretless bass. The twelve tunes have all been composed by Moffett and feature his wife, guitarist Jana Herzen (the New Love referred to in the album’s title) and drummer Corey Garcia, who plays on all but two of the tracks - the other drummer is Malick Koly. The first five numbers are trio recordings, with the remaining tunes adding Irwin Hall on woodwinds.
The album opens with ‘Swinging In The Realms,’ a lively number whose jaunty theme reminds me of ‘Happy Days Are Here Again.’ Garcia lays down a nervous-sounding pulse, with Herzen playing jagged, jitterry lines, with Moffett’s rich, deep tone and smooth movement between lower and higher registers underpinning it all. Garcia also plays a rousing solo – it’s an excellent opener. The delicate-sounding ‘We Remember’ begins with a call-and-response theme played by Moffett and Herzen. Herzen’s sparse guitar lines complement Moffett’s deft melodic playing, which includes wah-wah effects.
‘Higher Dimensions’ has the band exploring Ornette Coleman’s harmodolics, whereby harmony, melody and rhythm are of equal weight. The agitated-sounding tune has Garcia playing a skittering beat as Herzen’s guitar doubles up with Moffett’s bass in places. Moffett plays a furious run of 16th notes, laced with wah-wah and slap. By contrast, ‘I Didn’t Know’ is a graceful, reflective piece, with Hall’s ethereal tenor sax gently washing over Moffett’s melodic phrasing. ‘ETQ’ has an Eastern-feel, with its theme played together on bass and soprano sax. Hall solos powerfully on soprano as Herzen adds wah-wah effects to the mix, with Moffett playing a wah-wah-infused solo and Koly laying down a heavy beat. The last four tunes feature Moffett on vocals, with Herzen joining on the last three. ‘New Love’ is a love letter to Herzen. Moffett’s vocals have a smooth, light tone and he sings and plays with much feeling, with Hall’s alto flute fluttering around like a butterfly in the wind. ‘Spirit & Bride Song’ is where jazz meets Afro music meets dub. The heavy bass groove and syncopated beat is accompanied by Moffett and Herzen’s mellifluous vocals and some spoken word – it’s an excellent track and one of my favourites on the album. ‘Love For The People’ has a cool, Caribbean feel with breezy tenor sax lines mingling with a syncopated groove, while the closing number, ‘Rejoice’ has Moffett and Herzel singing the joyous theme together – if the sheer joy in their voices doesn’t lift your heart, nothing will. This is an excellent album clearly inspired by love, and which is superbly performed and executed. We can only be grateful that when Charnett Moffett was a little boy; he wanted to play with a bass guitar rather than toys.
Reviewed by George Cole
