JOHN HART - Checkmate
Steeplechase Records: SCCD 31910
John Hart (guitar) Gary Smulyan (baritone sax) David Wong (bass) Andy Watson (drums)
Recorded December 2019
Establishing a clear tonal contrast in the instrumental front line has long been a widely used device in the creation of a distinctive group sound. Consider some of the most successful jazz combos: Mulligan/Baker, Brubeck/Desmond, Davis/Coltrane, and the list goes on. For this reason, it is puzzling that more hasn’t been made of the guitar and baritone sax formula. Indeed, as John Hart reflects in the sleeve notes of his excellent new release, he can only recall one specific instance; that of guitarist Mick Goodrick’s 1978 quartet session on ECM called `In Passing’, which has him playing in tandem with John Surman. At the risk of coming over as a know all pedant I can cite a far more appropriate example in the albums Gill Mellè made for Blue Note and Prestige in the fifties. Playing in close counterpoint with guitarists Lou Mecca or Joe Cinderella, the sound mix he achieved cleaves far closer to the music on Hart’s disc than the more avant-garde ECM recording or the other well -known example which appeared under the title `Extrapolation`, pitting Surman against John McLaughlin. Still, the point is well made for though baritone saxes and guitars often turn up in mixed horn line -ups there are relatively few examples of them paired alone with the guitar serving as both the front line partner and harmony instrument.
So, having got that out of the way, what do we have here? Well, it is a modern mainstream set of the type Steeplechase records does so well and the recording captures the contrasting tone colours to perfection with Hart’s luminous fluidity, warm chordal phrases and plummy arpeggios operating in pleasing opposition to Smulyan’s bustling grittiness, a style closer in timbre to that of Pepper Adam’s, the hard bop burner from Detroit, than the warmer toned Gerry Mulligan. He takes the edge off a bit in the ballad interpretations, of which there are three, sounding closer to the romantically inclined Serge Chaloff but it is in the execution of Hart’s blues oriented originals that the sound that has made him one of the leading baritone soloists of his generation comes to the fore. He sits out on one of the nine tracks which allows Hart full reign to showcase his plangent style in a trio setting which, like all the other pieces is well served by the buoyancy of the resourceful rhythm team of Wong and Watson.
For me, this recording represents the most enduring form of small group jazz, sitting outside the transience of cutting edge trends; music for everyday and every mood, that never sounds dated and never fails to please. This is the sort of recording I instinctively reach for when I want to hear some solid and dependable jazz and one hopes that it will always find an audience and a market.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Steeplechase Records: SCCD 31910
John Hart (guitar) Gary Smulyan (baritone sax) David Wong (bass) Andy Watson (drums)
Recorded December 2019
Establishing a clear tonal contrast in the instrumental front line has long been a widely used device in the creation of a distinctive group sound. Consider some of the most successful jazz combos: Mulligan/Baker, Brubeck/Desmond, Davis/Coltrane, and the list goes on. For this reason, it is puzzling that more hasn’t been made of the guitar and baritone sax formula. Indeed, as John Hart reflects in the sleeve notes of his excellent new release, he can only recall one specific instance; that of guitarist Mick Goodrick’s 1978 quartet session on ECM called `In Passing’, which has him playing in tandem with John Surman. At the risk of coming over as a know all pedant I can cite a far more appropriate example in the albums Gill Mellè made for Blue Note and Prestige in the fifties. Playing in close counterpoint with guitarists Lou Mecca or Joe Cinderella, the sound mix he achieved cleaves far closer to the music on Hart’s disc than the more avant-garde ECM recording or the other well -known example which appeared under the title `Extrapolation`, pitting Surman against John McLaughlin. Still, the point is well made for though baritone saxes and guitars often turn up in mixed horn line -ups there are relatively few examples of them paired alone with the guitar serving as both the front line partner and harmony instrument.
So, having got that out of the way, what do we have here? Well, it is a modern mainstream set of the type Steeplechase records does so well and the recording captures the contrasting tone colours to perfection with Hart’s luminous fluidity, warm chordal phrases and plummy arpeggios operating in pleasing opposition to Smulyan’s bustling grittiness, a style closer in timbre to that of Pepper Adam’s, the hard bop burner from Detroit, than the warmer toned Gerry Mulligan. He takes the edge off a bit in the ballad interpretations, of which there are three, sounding closer to the romantically inclined Serge Chaloff but it is in the execution of Hart’s blues oriented originals that the sound that has made him one of the leading baritone soloists of his generation comes to the fore. He sits out on one of the nine tracks which allows Hart full reign to showcase his plangent style in a trio setting which, like all the other pieces is well served by the buoyancy of the resourceful rhythm team of Wong and Watson.
For me, this recording represents the most enduring form of small group jazz, sitting outside the transience of cutting edge trends; music for everyday and every mood, that never sounds dated and never fails to please. This is the sort of recording I instinctively reach for when I want to hear some solid and dependable jazz and one hopes that it will always find an audience and a market.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
