Alto saxist Benjamin Koppel releases a pair of albums to show two different feels and environments for his rich reed.
The first two disc set has post bop all stars Benjamin Koppel/as, Kenny Werner/p, Scott Colley/b and Jack DeJohnette/dr delivering a dozen intuitive originals, “live” at Clubhouse Studio. While most of the songs are given compositional credit to just one member, every piece feels like a group effort in that the organic whole of just about every song takes on various dimensions and directions. There are some clever chimes by DeJohnette that pulsate through the aptly titled “Bells of Beliefs” that has Koppel’s horn in a thoughtful mood, and Colley’s “Americana” has the composer do a rich workout with the drummer in a waltzing moment. Werner is emotive with full hands on his “Sada” while giving a warm aria with Colley on the sole standard, “If I Should Lose You”. The pair of “Free” tunes, as well as the playful “Ahmad The Terrible” have soft intros that slowly build up like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill before reaching a forceful climax to either let the stone fall back down or remain at the zenith. Collective conversations by masters of rhetoric.
On the second two-disc album teams him in an a funky R&B unit that sounds like a modern take of the Funk Brothers. With studio stud drummer Bernard Purdie on drums and Brecker Brother Randy on trumpet, Kopple brings together the stomping team of Jacob Christoffersen/key, Scott Colley/b, Dan Hemmer/B3, Jacob Andersen/perc and Soren Heller through a sweaty concert gig that jazz up soul tunes and souls up jazz tunes.
Marie Carmen Koppel growls out a sizzling “Respect” pulsed on by Purdie’s patented high hat, with some humming Hammond wailing on Sly Stone’s “Sing A Simple Song”. Christoffersen brings in some sleek keys for the hip horn harmonies on the suave “Con Alma And Sax” while the horns go to Memphis for “Hammond Street” and sway to Purdie’s backbeat on “Groove Me’. Colley provides more licks than a Tootsie Roll Pop on Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing” and Brecker goes to Dizzying heights on a tasty and fat-filled “Manteca”. This band shows that “jazz” is more of a verb than a noun, goosing up vintage soul classics by putting the “fun” back in funky.