The small Washington state label Origin Records is creating an impressive catalogue of post bop material. Here are the two latest arrivals to check out.
Pianist/keyboardist Marc Seals mixes jazz with its blues root on this cookin’ session with Fred Hamilton/g, Jeff Johnsonb, Dave Captein/eb and Gary Hobbs/dr. The band cruises like a Ford V8 on the waltzing “Highway Blues” and the gentle “The Open Road” which both spotlight some clean and frsh work by Hamilton’s fretwork. Seales’ piano is sleek on the grooving “Blue” and his keyboard gets serves as a bed of feathers for Hobb’s brush work on “Sunset Blues.” Clever takes of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” and Wayne Shorter’s “ESP” update two classics and make them available for 21st Century ears and feet. Nice reaching into the red soil and soil of jazz.
The trio Scenes consists of John Stowell/g, Jeff Johnson/b and John Bishop/dr, who are joined by the sax and flute of Hans Teuber for a collection of subtly swinging originals. Tunes such as “C Minor Waltz” and the bluesy “Nanti Flow” have Teuber’s tenor softly blowing on the gently flowing melodies, while the more kinetic fast spotlights deft interplay between Stowell and Johnson. Bishop’s rumbling drums serve as a rich underflow for Teuber’s flute on”Old Fellow” while the closing “Swedish Bingo” sums up the delicate conversational tone of the whole disc. Whispers of intelligent messages.
Origin Records
www.origin-records.com