WALTER SMITH III - Twio
Whirlwind WR4718
Walter Smith - tenor sax; Harish Raghavan - bass; Christian McBride - bass; Eric Harland - drums; Joshua Redman - tenor sax
Walter Smith may be best known to international audiences through his association with Christian Scott, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Eric Harland; he has accumulated an impressive tally of recordings, tours and awards that place him at the forefront of an adventurous and forward-looking movement in US jazz. This latest album turns it’s face squarely back to the tradition, revisiting the chordless tenor trio format pioneered by Rollins, and a range of material from the classic Golden-era repertoire of standards and bop classics. Smith’s own words best describe the mission statement - “I would try and alter the tunes quite radically, by rearranging, reharmonizing and altering meters to a point where I was barely playing the original song; but realized I was confusing the point of playing the songs, so I began to interpret them more directly, as they were meant to be played” You can see this as part of one of jazz’s periodic reassessments of its past, as pursued by such as George Colligan, New York Standards Quartet and Christian McBride (who guests here on four tracks, to magisterial effect on ‘On The Trail’, channelling Ray Brown on Way Out West).
There’s the inevitable risk of deja vu, but fortunately with such a creative team on board the results are fresh-sounding and deeply satisfying. “Ask Me Now’ is taken a jaunty pace, with Harland’s multilayered polyrhythms boiling away, and Smith’s sweet, high-register work sounding almost alto-sax like; ‘Nobody Else But Me’ definitely shows signs of radical rearrangement in the head, as if the guys just couldn’t help themselves, but soon straightens out into pure swinging joy, underpinned by Raghan’s powerhouse walking bass. His supremely swinging groove, each note placed firmly on top of the beat with a sense of simultaneously relaxed but driving time-feel that recalls a young Ron Carter, is the glue that holds the trio together. ‘On The Trail’ has fellow sometime-traditionalist Redman on board for some joyous duetting - We’ll Be Together Again’ is just sax and drums, and an object lesson in understated, unshowy percussive creativity from Mr Harland - ‘Social Call’ repeats the experiment with bass replacing drums, allowing McBride to demonstrate his own impeccable groove. ‘Contrafact’ is a high-intensity bop creation ( try guess the original on which it’s based from the Ornette-ish development) and suitable closer for this superb album. Smith has said ‘The plan is that when we tour, I’ll use that opportunity to invite the community to come and sit in, have fun and share ideas, which I imagined this music was all about in the first place” and it should be well worth catching the shows if you can.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Whirlwind WR4718
Walter Smith - tenor sax; Harish Raghavan - bass; Christian McBride - bass; Eric Harland - drums; Joshua Redman - tenor sax
Walter Smith may be best known to international audiences through his association with Christian Scott, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Eric Harland; he has accumulated an impressive tally of recordings, tours and awards that place him at the forefront of an adventurous and forward-looking movement in US jazz. This latest album turns it’s face squarely back to the tradition, revisiting the chordless tenor trio format pioneered by Rollins, and a range of material from the classic Golden-era repertoire of standards and bop classics. Smith’s own words best describe the mission statement - “I would try and alter the tunes quite radically, by rearranging, reharmonizing and altering meters to a point where I was barely playing the original song; but realized I was confusing the point of playing the songs, so I began to interpret them more directly, as they were meant to be played” You can see this as part of one of jazz’s periodic reassessments of its past, as pursued by such as George Colligan, New York Standards Quartet and Christian McBride (who guests here on four tracks, to magisterial effect on ‘On The Trail’, channelling Ray Brown on Way Out West).
There’s the inevitable risk of deja vu, but fortunately with such a creative team on board the results are fresh-sounding and deeply satisfying. “Ask Me Now’ is taken a jaunty pace, with Harland’s multilayered polyrhythms boiling away, and Smith’s sweet, high-register work sounding almost alto-sax like; ‘Nobody Else But Me’ definitely shows signs of radical rearrangement in the head, as if the guys just couldn’t help themselves, but soon straightens out into pure swinging joy, underpinned by Raghan’s powerhouse walking bass. His supremely swinging groove, each note placed firmly on top of the beat with a sense of simultaneously relaxed but driving time-feel that recalls a young Ron Carter, is the glue that holds the trio together. ‘On The Trail’ has fellow sometime-traditionalist Redman on board for some joyous duetting - We’ll Be Together Again’ is just sax and drums, and an object lesson in understated, unshowy percussive creativity from Mr Harland - ‘Social Call’ repeats the experiment with bass replacing drums, allowing McBride to demonstrate his own impeccable groove. ‘Contrafact’ is a high-intensity bop creation ( try guess the original on which it’s based from the Ornette-ish development) and suitable closer for this superb album. Smith has said ‘The plan is that when we tour, I’ll use that opportunity to invite the community to come and sit in, have fun and share ideas, which I imagined this music was all about in the first place” and it should be well worth catching the shows if you can.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
