Mark Kleinhaut Trio with Tiger Okoshi: Chasing Tales

On Chasing Tales (Invisible Music), Maine-based Mark Kleinhaut, a regional player with the potential for a larger audience, has a light fluency that is readily apparent throughout the set of original compositions. Perhaps the disc’s most striking aspects are the quartet arrangements and the ensuing ensemble work, buoyed by the presence of trumpeter Tiger Okoshi, whose sometimes muted instrumental voice and subdued approach add a coolness that plays well with the leader’s clean, mainstream-rooted tone.

Stylistically, the tunes cover an ambitiously large piece of acreage. “Bluejay” and “Talk to You Later” swing mightily and sport precision ensemble work and deft solo contributions, including an actively grooving excursion by bassist Jim Lyden. “Cape Hatteras” has a subtle rumbalike foundation that supports some nice guitar filigree and an open, melodic trumpet foray. “Mousetrap,” a small-scale salute to John McLaughlin, begins with an adventurous bass soliloquy, kicks things up a couple of notches for a grooving but open blowing section, and includes some intricate ensemble work. Less successful is “Erika’s Living Room,” a laid-back, melodic duet that drops a ball here and there over the course of the trumpet/fingerstyle guitar juggling act. Overall, the thoughtful solos and tunes constitute an admirable artistic statement whose only shortcoming is a stylistic disconnect that sometimes occurs from tune to tune.

Originally Published July 1, 2002