Human Spirit: Dialogue

Origin Arts
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Dialogue

The members of Human Spirit — a core unit of the many jazz musicians who have made Seattle and the Pacific Northwest their home — are trumpeter/composer/producer Thomas Marriott, saxophonist Mark Taylor and drummer Matt Jorgensen. Their combined resumes includes 14 albums as leaders and dozens more as sidemen. For this release, they added guests Orrin Evans (piano) and Essiet Essiet (bass). The resulting quintet delivers an album dubbed the “new” West Coast jazz.

Marriott, the group’s best-known member, has won numerous competitive trumpet awards over the years; he’s a seven-time Golden Ear winner and did three world tours with Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau band. Marriott has been featured on more than 100 recordings during his career; his style is pure, and his tone crystal clear. 

Taylor and Jorgensen are equally adept on their instruments. Both head small-combo groups of their own and are first-call artists by name instrumentalists and vocalists who perform periodically on the West Coast. 

Dialogue presents an entirely original menu. Marriott composed four tracks (“Reversal of Fortune,” “Song for Samuel,” “148 Lexington” and “Pelham Gardens”), while Taylor contributed “Stepford and Son” and “After Hours,” and Jorgensen delivered “In Unity” and “Ridgecrest.” It’s refreshing that all the tunes have “substance”; each features a distinct melodic line, and the solos relate to those lines, as opposed to being merely “add-ons.” I found myself listening to all the tracks because I was genuinely involved with the music, not just because they swung (although that’s also true). 

This session was recorded live during two nights at Tula’s Jazz Club, in Seattle, during the 2011 Earshot Jazz Festival. You can tell, from the large audience’s reaction, that everybody present also loved this performance!

Taylor/Fidyk Big Band: Live at Blues Alley

OA2 Records
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 3.15.07
Buy CD: Live at Blues Alley

You probably aren't familiar with either Mark Taylor or Steve Fidyk, but you'll want to be after listening to this wonderful release. 

Taylor is a composer/ arranger who got his start doing charts for the Stan Kenton orchestra; Fidyk is a percussionist who has played in many of the great jazz groups and in back-up bands for innumerable vocal artists. They met while both were members of the Army Blues, a well known military band. 

This CD, only their second release, was done live at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. 

The group is a standard big band: five saxes, four trumpets, four trombones and a rhythm section consisting of piano, bass and drums. All but one of the tracks were arranged by Taylor; Fidyk did the arrangement of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." 

The result: This band really swings. It's like a visit to the past, resurrecting memories of Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others of that genre. 

"Full Count" is typical of the up-tempo openers with which those bands would begin a concert; the second tune in the set, "Maiden Voyage," is a real burner that lets the audience know what to expect. "Bradley's Bop House," a groovy mid-tempo tune, demonstrates how a great rhythm section can drive a band and its featured trumpet and tenor sax soloists. 

"My One And Only Love" is the first of five old standards; this one's a great arrangement for dancers. The "close dancing" crowd will appreciate the samba treatment given "What'll I Do," which has beautiful trumpet and piano solos. 

As for "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," I've never heard it played like this ... and I love it! 

I've also never heard a version of "Anthropology" played at a (relatively) slow tempo. This version will make you even more impressed with this great bop standard. 

Taylor was collaborating with drummer Louie Bellson when he composed "Brush Taps." It's reminiscent of Neal Hefti's "Cute," and demonstrates the groove created when a drummer uses brushes instead of sticks. 

"My Cherie Amour" is done as a jazz waltz: wonderful for both listening and dancing. Finally, the set closes with "The Gorillaman Blues," a real rocker in my favorite jazz format. The ensemble and solo work on this track are fantastic, and you won't be able to keep your feet still. 

This is a great group, and I look forward to future CDs.