Orrin Evans, Liberation Blues (Smoke Sessions)

[Tom Storer]

Sean Jones, trumpet; JD Allen, tenor sax; Orrin Evans, piano; Luques Curtis, bass; Bill Stewart, drums. Recorded at Smoke, NYC.

This is a live date recorded around the very end of 2013 and just released in August. If you like mainstream, swinging jazz, this is for you. Stylistically, it's the 1960's, hard bop to the Miles Davis quintet of those years. The musicians have the cultivated approach common to accomplished swingers these days; they know their historical models inside out and play within that large area with freshness and skill.

The first five tracks are presented as a suite in honor of bassist Dwayne Burno, who had just died. JD Allen swears allegiance to Atlantic-era Coltrane on the opening track, "Devil Eyes," and moves closer to Wayne Shorter in his solo on "Juanita," a Burno composition which, like the Evans compositions here, reminds me of Miles/Shorter tunes from ESP or Nefertiti. "A Little D.A.B.'ll Do Ya" is a fast piece by Evans whose theme includes drum breaks, reminiscent in that respect of "Seven Steps to Heaven." "A Free Man," by Donald Brown, has a moving lyric, spoken by Evans (I assume), from the point of view of a freed slave on the difficulties of assuming freedom. Evan's "Liberation Bues" starts with a piano introduction, then has the horns come in for a sassy theme before a trumpet solo with considerable back-and-forth between Sean Jones and Evans, then a piano solo.

"Simply Green" and "Meant to Shine," both by Evans, are cool mid-tempo pieces that mine the Milesian mid-60's vein; on the first, trumpet and piano do the soloing, on the second it's tenor and piano. "Anysha," a Trudy Pitts composition, is a slow and soulful feature for Allen, whose tenor quietly and intimately joins the rhythm section after the piano introduction. He is reminiscent of Stan Getz here, with a gorgeous lyricism erupting into clear cries. Things are a little less classic with Paul Motian's "Mumbo-Jumbo," which features freer group improvisation than elsewhere on the CD. "How High the Moon" is an elegant piece for piano trio.

Underscoring their stylistic home base, they close with "The Theme," before coming back with guest vocalist Joanne Pascale doing "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes."

Reading over what I've said above, I'm afraid you might feel this is just another copycat CD. That would be a mistaken impression. You can't play this kind of jazz without referring to the tradition and its great figures; this quintet has a special focus on 60's Miles, but they play it excitingly and their arrangements are deft and engaging. One major factor in this is the alert, aggressive drumming of Bill Stewart, who fits this stuff like a glove, supported by the warm-toned Luques Curtis on bass. Stewart's synthesis of the jazz drums tradition is wide and deep, but Tony Williams and Elvin Jones are in there. He has a mastery of sound on the traps that is rare. (I heard this up close recently at a Nicholas Payton concert where Stewart was on drums and, like here, was very much an authoritative co-leader of the music.) His fast juggling of rhythms in the service of the arrangements is legible and thrilling. He's one of the very best and his presence here makes this CD special.

And finally, trumpeter Sean Jones was a discovery for me. I hadn't heard him as a small-group soloist before, and he just smokes (appropriately, given the venue). A beautiful sound, confident control, and passionate soloing. I'll be getting his new quartet CD, "Im.pro.vise".

[Ron Thorne]

Thanks for the thoughtful review, Tom. I'm a big Orrin Evans (and Bill Stewart) fan, so this might be right up my alley.

Interestingly, Orrin's website shows the new album 'COMING SOON'.

Here is a link to a recent interview on WBGO.