Michael
Feinberg (bass, electric bass); Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts (drums); Orrin Evans (piano);
Godwin Louis (alto sax); Billy Buss (trumpet); Gabriel Globus-Hoenich
(percussion); Noah Preminger (tenor sax); Randy Brecker (trumpet on Monkeys Never Cramp); Leo Genovese (keyboards - piano on Three
Flowers).
The cover of the album carries the statement of intent “When the going got tough, the tough got swinging” and shows the band as a gang of wild-west tough guys, Feinberg, chewing on a small cigar, to the fore. This leads to the inevitable question ‘Just how tough is this music?’ and the answer is like an over-boiled curate’s egg, ‘Tough in places’. Indeed, on first hearing this album sounds like a very disparate collection but it coheres into a something more unified with further listens. It shows its roots in the cover versions but there’s energy in those tracks and the originals keep those levels up. It’s very much, a grower.
The listener is lured into a false
sense of comfort by the opening Introduction, a gentle piano
trio plus trumpet piece.
There’s none of that comfort on the
blast through Miles Davis’ Nardis, with bassist and drummer
both putting in a double shift, and Buss’ trumpet, unassuming on the first
track now tearing holes in the sky. That energy continues into The
Husafell Stone, which removes any doubt that this is a bass player’s
album. The Husafell Stone is, incidentally, the liner notes tell us, a
legendary 409lb stone from Iceland, the lifting of which is a feat of strength,
akin to King Arthur pulling the sword from the stone.
Pianist Orrin Evans provides an
outstanding extended introduction to McCoy Tyner’s Walk Spirit, Talk
Spirit. Evans is less percussive than Tyner in his playing but any
shortfall is made up by Globus-Hoenich’s congas and, again pushing things
along, Feinberg’s bass.
Another Tyner composition, Three
Flowers follows. A complex, knotty duo between Leo Genovese on piano
and Feinberg. Genovese has that percussive left hand married to a series of
runs and trills around which the bass notes dance for most of the track.
Janky in the Middle is a piece of
butt-swinging New Orleans funk with Bass and Louis taking the lead solos over
short, punchy riffs from Feinberg.
On Every Damn Day a bold,
compelling, full toned front line runs over a rolling, soloing Watts, showing
the propulsive energy that you bring him to a session to provide.
Lauren’s Song is dedicated to
Feinberg’s wife, whom, one can assume from the tune is lovely and elegant,
though probably not as played largely on electric bass and piano to give it a
sound different to anything else on the album. Then, with Monkeys Never
Cramp, it’s back to some New Orleans swing that starts off like a
street marching band after the coffin has been buried. (My knowledge here is
based almost entirely on the opening scenes of Live and Let Die).
After a brief organ flutter from
Genovese on Outro the album goes out swinging (there’s that word
again) with the title track, a David ‘Fathead’ Newman composition. The tune
sings, mainly through Billy Buss’ trumpet of better times ahead. It’s an
uplifting tone to end on and you go away from the album feeling a little better
about the world. If an album can give you that, you know it’s good ‘un.
The album is already out and is available at the usual online outlets and at Fresh Sounds New Talent
There’s lots more info about Michael
Feinberg on his website mfbass.com - Dave Sayer
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