By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Freespace
When one thinks about jazz
locales, New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Seattle generally
come to mind; they’re the key areas where the art form has developed, and each
has produced a distinct style. That said, jazz musicians have come from
every part of the country (and, lately, every part of the world).
The core members of the AHA! Quintet — pianist Steve Allee, bassist Jeremy Allen and drummer Steve Houghton
— have the state of Indiana in common: Allee is an Indianapolis native, while Allen
and Houghton are faculty members at Indiana University. For this album,
that trio added a couple of stellar artists: Clay Jenkins, on trumpet; and Bob
Sheppard, who plays most of the reed instruments. All these gentlemen have
performed and recorded with various jazz greats: Freddie Hubbard, Buddy Rich, Woody
Herman, Chick Corea, Count Basie and many others.
Allee composed and arranged
all but one of this album’s tunes; the exception is the beautiful old standard,
“Never Never Land,”
delivered by his trio. The larger quintet’s musical style is tightly
arranged jazz, more like that of the so-called West Coast sound, than the “looser”
East Coast genre. The ensemble work for the melodic lines is relatively
complex — obviously written, as opposed to “head” arrangements — and everything
is rehearsed to perfection. Each musician gets plenty of solo space, and
the performances are exceptional. It all meshes and swings wonderfully.
This is a great
group, and it delivers imaginative stuff.
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