Bassology
March 2006 By Ron Wynn
Back Nine
Jazz Compass
Although there are some songs on Back Nine where the inclusion of a second lead instrument besides guitar would have been nice, the interplay between bassist Tom Warrington, drummer Joe La Barbera and ax-man Larry Koonse is so tight and inviting that most...
December 2002 By Harvey Siders
What Goes Around
ECM Records
On What Goes Around (ECM), Dave Holland shows why he, his bass, his big and small bands, his writing and his arranging have won buckets of awards. What Goes Around is Holland's first big-band recording, and it deservedly created a sensation among industry...
December 2002 By Harvey Siders
Joined at the Hip
TCB
Buster Williams' latest combo session, Joined at the Hip (TCB) is further evidence of his firm anchoring skill and tasteful, hornlike solos. It also reveals his disdain for the limelight, generously granting more stretch-out room to his colleagues-in this...
December 2002 By Harvey Siders
The History of Jazz, Volume 1
For The History of Jazz, Vol. 2: Dedications (Arbors), bassist Michael Moore leads an unusual trio, with drummer Tom Melito and Ken Peplowski on clarinet and tenor. If the instrumentation seems limiting, the scope of their project may very well be endless...
December 2002 By Harvey Siders
New Beginning
RVS
"New Beginning" is the title tune off the latest release by acoustic bassist Harvie Swartz, but it could also apply to his new identity, Harvie S. This self-released disc is the second by his jazz/Afro-Cuban/fusion band, Eye Contact. It also contains some...
December 2002 By Harvey Siders
Grace
Khaeon
Bassist David Friesen is virtually naked in his new release, Grace (Khaeon), as half of a duo with pianist Jeff Gardner. It is an intellectual playing and listening experience. Friesen and Gardner are as sensitive and as anticipatory to each other's styles...
December 2002 By Harvey Siders
Live at Zanzibar Blue
Random Choice
Charles Fambrough is your typical journeyman bassist, represented here fronting his hard-driving bop quintet through Live at Zanzibar Blue (Random Chance) in his hometown of Philadelphia. Fambrough shows the spark that drove Art Blakey's Messengers during...
December 2002 By Harvey Siders
The Unquiet
Fresh Sound New Talent
There's a new bass face in the Apple, Matt Penman, from New Zealand, with a debut CD as leader/writer/producer, The Unquiet (Fresh Sound/New Talent). I would like to say he succeeds in all three categories, but what emerges most impressively is his bass...
December 2002 By Harvey Siders
Match Point
SteepleChase
Ron McClure's Match Point (Steeplechase) certainly goes somewhere, by combining contemporary and mainstream. That amalgam jumps right out of "Cellular Expansion," mainly a showcase for drummer Jeff Brillinger, but it's fascinating to hear McClure's nonstop...
December 2002 By Harvey Siders
Mythos
Playscape Recordings
With his Nu Trio/Quintet, Mario Pavone directs in a way that a bassist/leader should, but on Mythos (Playscape) he does so in a language that's so far out it's not difficult to believe that he earned an engineering degree at the University of Connecticut...
