Latin Jazz, Afro-Caribbean rhythms; they say the hips don’t lie but mine have been known to tell a few fibs in their time. What should go left goes right and vice-versa and I have an ASBO prohibiting me from twerking by court order. But two minutes of this and things are moving, maybe going with the flow and letting your legs, unconsciously, do their thing is the answer and your arse will follow.
Lynch,
himself, is one of the last of the Art Blakey alumni, playing with the great
man in 1988-1990 and appearing on two albums. This after playing with Horace
Silver and the Tokisho Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra in the eighties. Since then he’s
released a couple of dozen of his own albums and recorded with Eddie Palmieri
and Tito Puente so the Latin vibe is strong in this one. Lynch now teaches at
the University of Miami and this is the Miami version of Spheres of Influence.
Songbook Volume 2
was released in July and comes with an extra CD of radio versions and one
alternate take. (Vol 1: Bus Stop Serenade,
with a completely different quintet, was released last year). There’s a core
quartet of trumpet, bass, drums and percussion (lots of percussion) with the
other musicians appearing on different tracks as needed. It’s bold, bright and
clear and rattles along, all uncompromising elbows and flights of joy. All of
the tracks are over 7 minutes long and this gives plenty of time for all
involved to really dig in.
It’s
mainly covers of tunes from across Lynch’s recording career with two new tunes
in The Disco Godfather and E.P’s Plan B with the latter opening the
album and we’re straight into it. All these rhythms, all this percussion and
Lynch setting his stall out as someone who can fly with both feet on the
ground. What’s not to like? A slower passage features Aldo Salvent’s sinuous contemplative
tenor.
Change of Plan
is a tune Lynch first recorded in 1986 and it’s aged well. A simple bebop
phrase is the structure for a series of long well developed solos from Lynch,
Kelly and, especially Roig. Even the more mellow tunes, as this is, retain the
rhythm and set the toes a-tapping.
Across the Bridge sounds like hard work for Lynch; he’s holding back
a tidal wave from the back line who are pushing him on and he meets the
challenge with a soaring solo.
It’s
altogether slinkier with Dance The Way U
Want To. It’s more Latin than Afro-Caribbean but no less fun for that. Chris
Thompson-Taylor and Kemuel Roig take the lead before Lynch kicks it up again.
The
other new track, The Disco Godfather, dedicated
to black humourist and film maker Rudy Ray Moore, opens with a chuckling duet between
tenor (Salvent again) and trumpet that borders on free jazz before a propulsive
bass line comes in underneath. It continues as a discussion between the two
leads; it sounds like a long conversation between old friends, one of who is
suggesting new ideas and the other is shooting them down, with different tempi,
call and response sections, disagreements and conclusions.
Thompson-Taylor
and Roig take the lead again on Tom
Harrell on tenor and piano respectively, challenging each other before the
rhythm section comes to the fore. Everything is clean, powerful, dynamic and
precise. It is wonderful driving funk. A blistering solo from Lynch tops it all
off like the cherry on the icing. A great track.
Que Seria La Vida
is a shuffling bolero at a lower tempo. The lights are lowered with no drop in
intensity as the percussionists still cover the bases. It’s a slow, late night
ballad featuring a duet between Lynch and Alex Brown on piano that owes a
little to The Shadow of Your Smile. It’s
one for after closing hours, ties and tongues are loosened. Another thing of elegance
and beauty, full of romantic yearning.
Closer
Awe Shocks takes us back up to where
we’ve been for most of the album. It’s another high-speed hurtle through solos
by Alex Brown and CT-T before Lynch reminds us whose group this is, punching
holes in the sky, he’s taking us higher again. Dust off those cowbells, claves
and wooden blocks and join in.
A few
extra points go to Robin D Williams for the artwork.
Songbook Vol 2 is available now through this BANDCAMP link. The CD comes with an extra disc of one alternate take and 8 radio edits, all still worth hearing, even if they are, in the main abridged versions of what’s on Disc 1. Dave Sayer
No comments :
Post a Comment