Fourward Motion in Bloomington, MN

The longer one participates writing album reviews, the more strikingly apparent it becomes that there are many excellent
jazz
players waiting to be heard. The supply never seems to run out, a condition for which music critics should be eternally grateful. And here's another: a quartet of young talented players from Chicago jointly led by
Steve Thomas
and
John Paris
. Working with a play list by
Paris
Thomas
, with a
Monk
nestled in along the way, these guys play like they have been together for years, so comfortable are they with each other. On
"Tanufale,"
several attacks are worked in. There's a call-and-response segment between
' trumpet and
' guitar. Then there's a lengthy solo by
with purely plucked lines over some rhythmic drumming by
Greg Fundus
. The next chorus features
working with bass player
Tim Fox
, with
' trumpet dropping in as needed, all the time working out common improvisational schemes on this laid-back tune by
. This is part of a process designed to trace the evolution of
music from the
bop
leanings of
Clifford Brown
on through the
modal
music of
Miles Davis
. But what emerges is not so much a nod to these and other great
artists, but an evolution of this group's own approach to the music they play.
Bop
et seq. may be a baseline of sorts, but everything else is of the group's own making. They lean to the modern side, but they have such a respect for melodic lines, allowing them to hold matters together even during the most elaborate extemporizational excursions of fancy. Note the word is "excursions," not "flights," to reflect the intelligent restraint of the playing.
Fourward Motion
is a highly creative set and is recommended. ~ Dave Nathan