HERLIN RILEY - Perpetual Optimism
Mack Avenue: MAC1136
Herlin Riley (drums) Emmet Cohen (piano) Russell Hall (bass) Godwin Louis (alto sax) Bruce Harris (trumpet).
Recorded in New York and New Orleans, December 6th & 7th 2017
What a pleasant change it is to see a smiling face on the cover of a jazz album. Nowadays most contemporary musicians seem inclined to adopt a demeanour of self -regarding gravitas as if cracking their faces would somehow diminish the significance of the music. In contrast and as befits the title of his latest album New Orleans born drummer Riley beams out of the cover with a welcoming warmth that holds out the promise of a listening experience that appears to place unalloyed pleasure at the head of his musical priorities.
Fronting, but never dominating, a quintet of young, mainly New York based musicians, each with their own individual career paths in place, Riley delivers a set of lively, uplifting music which might reasonably be described as modern mainstream with added contemporary tingle factors, riding on infectious rhythm making of the type that has made him Wynton Marsalis’ drummer of choice and played such an important role in preserving the traditional verities that inform the trumpeter’s various projects.
The programme which opens with some happy-clappy testifying in the first of five of the leader’s original compositions also includes the two standards, `You Don’t Know What Love Is` and `Stella by Starlight`, both receiving original and unhackneyed arrangements; a further original by fellow Lincoln Center alumnus, Victor Goines follows and there is a piece by mentor Elis Marsalis to which Herlin adds a funky coda in which he raps out a tribute to the Marsalis clan extolling their musical virtues. A second vocal contribution comes in the form of his take on Willie Dixon’s blues bash `Wang Wang Doodle’ which humorously exhorts the listener to indulge in some wild terpsichorean mayhem.
The music benefits enormously from Herlin’s crisp rhythmic patterning in which elements of that unique New Orleans flexibility are ever present and he never usurps his responsibilities as a bandleader by crowding out his colleagues or disrupting the continuity of flow. When drum breaks occur they are usually of the drive thru variety carried along by piano vamp or bass line figure and have a terrific momentum.
The band itself is a great little unit with each participant contributing solos of melodic substance mixing bluesy vibrato with cool boppish elegance, and avoiding displays of tasteless braggadocio. Emmett Cohen is a fine pianist with a warm, eloquent touch and gets to reveal the full extent of his talent in a trio version of `Stella` but throughout he proves equally capable of setting fire to a blues or bop number as he is of burnishing a ballad.
So, the promise of unalloyed pleasure is faithfully delivered and if you are looking for music the will put a spring in your step and a smile on your face, this is the disc for you.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Mack Avenue: MAC1136
Herlin Riley (drums) Emmet Cohen (piano) Russell Hall (bass) Godwin Louis (alto sax) Bruce Harris (trumpet).
Recorded in New York and New Orleans, December 6th & 7th 2017
What a pleasant change it is to see a smiling face on the cover of a jazz album. Nowadays most contemporary musicians seem inclined to adopt a demeanour of self -regarding gravitas as if cracking their faces would somehow diminish the significance of the music. In contrast and as befits the title of his latest album New Orleans born drummer Riley beams out of the cover with a welcoming warmth that holds out the promise of a listening experience that appears to place unalloyed pleasure at the head of his musical priorities.
Fronting, but never dominating, a quintet of young, mainly New York based musicians, each with their own individual career paths in place, Riley delivers a set of lively, uplifting music which might reasonably be described as modern mainstream with added contemporary tingle factors, riding on infectious rhythm making of the type that has made him Wynton Marsalis’ drummer of choice and played such an important role in preserving the traditional verities that inform the trumpeter’s various projects.
The programme which opens with some happy-clappy testifying in the first of five of the leader’s original compositions also includes the two standards, `You Don’t Know What Love Is` and `Stella by Starlight`, both receiving original and unhackneyed arrangements; a further original by fellow Lincoln Center alumnus, Victor Goines follows and there is a piece by mentor Elis Marsalis to which Herlin adds a funky coda in which he raps out a tribute to the Marsalis clan extolling their musical virtues. A second vocal contribution comes in the form of his take on Willie Dixon’s blues bash `Wang Wang Doodle’ which humorously exhorts the listener to indulge in some wild terpsichorean mayhem.
The music benefits enormously from Herlin’s crisp rhythmic patterning in which elements of that unique New Orleans flexibility are ever present and he never usurps his responsibilities as a bandleader by crowding out his colleagues or disrupting the continuity of flow. When drum breaks occur they are usually of the drive thru variety carried along by piano vamp or bass line figure and have a terrific momentum.
The band itself is a great little unit with each participant contributing solos of melodic substance mixing bluesy vibrato with cool boppish elegance, and avoiding displays of tasteless braggadocio. Emmett Cohen is a fine pianist with a warm, eloquent touch and gets to reveal the full extent of his talent in a trio version of `Stella` but throughout he proves equally capable of setting fire to a blues or bop number as he is of burnishing a ballad.
So, the promise of unalloyed pleasure is faithfully delivered and if you are looking for music the will put a spring in your step and a smile on your face, this is the disc for you.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
