TIM MAYER - Keeper of the Flame
D-Clef Records: DCR-162
Tim Mayer (tenor, alto & soprano saxes, alto flute) Rodney Whitaker(bass) Ulysses Owen (drums) Anthony Stanco (trumpet) Adam Rongo (alto sax) Tony Lustig (baritone sax) Miki Hayama (piano) Emmet Cohen (piano – track 8) Octet arrangements by Diego Rivera. Recorded in New Jersey on July 14th, 2013
Hard Bop is surely the most enduring form of jazz. Emerging from Be-Bop at the start of the nineteen fifties it continues to engage the interest of each new generation of musicians who find inspiration in its bluesy, swinging conventions for their own demonstrations of virtuosic and melodic invention. This and Its ability to absorb diverse cultural and aesthetic variants ensures its universal appeal. Tim Mayer, a musician who clearly recognises its potentialities is a tenor player of the Dexter Gordon stripe in terms of tone and timbre who doubles on soprano sax and flute. Having staked his claim as a keeper of the flame back in 2011 with an excellent quintet session entitled `Resilience’, he returns to the studio with an octet of similarly gifted collaborators which includes such figures of growing eminence as Roger Whitaker on bass and Ulysses Owns Jnr on drums with promising new piano star Emmet Cohen on one track. We must also make special mention of a ninth contributor to the enterprise, Chicago born and based Diego Rivera, a tenor player and bandleader in his own right, who wrote the arrangements for the octet tracks.
The playlist offers a nicely varied mix of hard bop classics, a couple of originals and a pair of songbook standards for trio performance which showcase the excellence of the bass ‘n drums coaction behind the leader’s tenor and soprano. Of the hard bop staples, we have the opener, `Big P` by Jimmy Heath, Cedar Walton’s `Hand in Glove` and McCoy Tyner’s `Passion Dance`, all of which benefit enormously from Rivera’s taut ensemble writing especially his vigorous adaptation of Coltrane’s yearning ballad ‘Naima`. A moment of calm follows with a delicately chromatic original by trombonist Michael Dease which features the leader on alto flute and a creamy obbligato from the composer set against the arranger’s rich, orchestral textures. Finally, the set comes to a close with a spirited rendition of `Passion Dance` which has Mayer delivering a high velocity alto solo that displays some of the acrid bite we associate with the style of Jackie McLean, another late, lamented hard bop hero. The ensemble really roars on this one driven along by a mobile bass line and seething percussion; we also get to hear a nimble piano solo by Emmet Cohen who at 28 is pricking up the ears of the critical literati who have him tipped as a talent to watch.
So, in conclusion, for those who thrill to the sound of really combustible music here is a disc to spark your interest and keep the embers glowing. Great stuff!
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
D-Clef Records: DCR-162
Tim Mayer (tenor, alto & soprano saxes, alto flute) Rodney Whitaker(bass) Ulysses Owen (drums) Anthony Stanco (trumpet) Adam Rongo (alto sax) Tony Lustig (baritone sax) Miki Hayama (piano) Emmet Cohen (piano – track 8) Octet arrangements by Diego Rivera. Recorded in New Jersey on July 14th, 2013
Hard Bop is surely the most enduring form of jazz. Emerging from Be-Bop at the start of the nineteen fifties it continues to engage the interest of each new generation of musicians who find inspiration in its bluesy, swinging conventions for their own demonstrations of virtuosic and melodic invention. This and Its ability to absorb diverse cultural and aesthetic variants ensures its universal appeal. Tim Mayer, a musician who clearly recognises its potentialities is a tenor player of the Dexter Gordon stripe in terms of tone and timbre who doubles on soprano sax and flute. Having staked his claim as a keeper of the flame back in 2011 with an excellent quintet session entitled `Resilience’, he returns to the studio with an octet of similarly gifted collaborators which includes such figures of growing eminence as Roger Whitaker on bass and Ulysses Owns Jnr on drums with promising new piano star Emmet Cohen on one track. We must also make special mention of a ninth contributor to the enterprise, Chicago born and based Diego Rivera, a tenor player and bandleader in his own right, who wrote the arrangements for the octet tracks.
The playlist offers a nicely varied mix of hard bop classics, a couple of originals and a pair of songbook standards for trio performance which showcase the excellence of the bass ‘n drums coaction behind the leader’s tenor and soprano. Of the hard bop staples, we have the opener, `Big P` by Jimmy Heath, Cedar Walton’s `Hand in Glove` and McCoy Tyner’s `Passion Dance`, all of which benefit enormously from Rivera’s taut ensemble writing especially his vigorous adaptation of Coltrane’s yearning ballad ‘Naima`. A moment of calm follows with a delicately chromatic original by trombonist Michael Dease which features the leader on alto flute and a creamy obbligato from the composer set against the arranger’s rich, orchestral textures. Finally, the set comes to a close with a spirited rendition of `Passion Dance` which has Mayer delivering a high velocity alto solo that displays some of the acrid bite we associate with the style of Jackie McLean, another late, lamented hard bop hero. The ensemble really roars on this one driven along by a mobile bass line and seething percussion; we also get to hear a nimble piano solo by Emmet Cohen who at 28 is pricking up the ears of the critical literati who have him tipped as a talent to watch.
So, in conclusion, for those who thrill to the sound of really combustible music here is a disc to spark your interest and keep the embers glowing. Great stuff!
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
