Track review: Rick Keller - Subterraneous

Rick Keller (tenor sax); Ramiro Nasello (trumpet); David Siegel (keyboards);  Alfredo Lopez (bass); Andy Sanesi (drums)

In 2006, in an All Music Review of the Brecker Brothers’ album, Some Skunk Funk (Telarc, 2005), the well-respected jazz critic, Scott Yanow wrote: “The individual songs may not be overly memorable, although Some Skunk Funk has been getting covered by other musicians.” That jazz-funk-fusion classic was originally released in 1975 and has become influential and a modern era jazz staple. What the Breckers and Yanow could not envision back then was the effect that that 1970s track and other Brecker Brothers work – especially that of the late saxophonist Michael Brecker - would have on outstanding Las Vegas-based saxman, Rick Keller.

Now pan ahead five decades and allow an elaboration. Subterraneous, is a Keller original and killer track from his fine album, Heroes (which honors Keller’s influencers and features some of Las Vegas’s hippest players). On this selected track, Keller channels the aforementioned jazz-funk-fusion classic and delivers a highly infectious one in its and his own right.

The cut opens with a startling, brief drum knock, a series of descending quartal chords, and a white-hot rhythm section bed. That entrance lays the foundation for the blistering melody head performed by Keller’s tenor and trumpeter, Ramiro Nasello. The melody instantly grabs one’s ear before a textural interlude, followed by Keller who launches into a fiercely virile solo excursion.

Keller’s sax tone is muscular and not overbearing. His lines escalate and cascade, displaying supreme command of his axe. There are no cliches here; each idea virally generates another. One surmises that Keller knows exactly where he is going and how he wishes to approach that. Trumpeter Ramiro Nosello dovetails brilliantly with Keller’s profoundly assertive drive and spins a very hip ”electric-effected” solo ride. The outstanding and highly-energized rhythm section, consisting of David SiegeI’s keys, Alfredo Lopez on bass, and Andy Sanesi’s drums maintain a furious pace and interact seamlessly with the frontline and soloists. The production values are top-notch across the board. Overall, it is a standout cut that will warrant repeat play – and, possibly even be picked up by other musicians as happened with Some Skunk Funk.

I’m uncertain if Keller was sending a hat-tip to The Subterraneans, a '50s novella from beat poet and jazz aficionado, Jack Kerouac, but, whether above or beneath the surface, Subterraneous is a terrific track definitely worth digging into. Nick Mondello