Origin Arts
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 3.5.09Buy CD: Boneyard
Pianist Jim McNeely, bassist Kelly Sill and drummer Joel Spencer are well-known musicians who began their careers in the Chicago area.
They first met during the 1970s, but as members of other groups. All have played with literally dozens of name organizations: McNeely with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis big band, Stan Getz and Phil Woods; Sill with Hank Jones, Don Menza and Clark Terry; and Spencer with Count Basie, Wynton Marsalis and Scott Hamilton.
McNeely earned nine Grammy Award nominations from 1997 through 2006, and serves on the faculties of both the Manhattan School of Music and William Paterson University. Sill, a graduate of the University of Illinois, is involved in jazz festivals within and outside of the United States, as is Spencer.
All are “first call” artists for commercial radio, TV and movie soundtracks.
Two of this album's tunes were written by McNeely, and two by Sill; the rest are jazz standards by Kurt Weill, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Wayne Shorter and Bob Hilliard/David Mann. McNeely handled all the arrangements.
All are beautifully done: Your attention will be riveted to the music, and that's a major accomplishment in a trio setting. These are first-class artists, and they've produced an CD you'll want to play again and again.
Origin Arts
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 5.1.08Buy CD: The Door
Kelly Brand is a composer, arranger and pianist and a key fixture in the Chicago jazz scene; this album is the third under her name.
The liner notes don't clarify what a "Nextet" is, but it doesn't have anything to do with the size of her group, which — for this CD — is a septet. Brand is joined by her husband (and bassist), Kelly Sill, along with Geof Bradfield on tenor sax and flute, Art Davis on trumpet and flugelhorn, Jon Dettemyer on drums and Mari Anne Jayme on vocals.
Cellist (and daughter) Naomi Sill joins the group on one tune.
All but one of the songs were composed by Brand, who proves to be both a gifted writer and pianist. The melodies are, to quote famous pianist Marion McPartland (with whom Brand has performed), "written and played with elegance and sensitivity."
Those descriptors also apply to the artists who make up this group. The melodic lines played by the instrumentalist, either in unison or harmony, are wonderfully soothing while still swinging. The quality of the sidemen is such that their solos meld perfectly with those melodic lines.
Sill is particularly noteworthy, no doubt due to all the time he has spent performing with many other artists.
This "Nextet" is not a driving, up-tempo unit, but it's a pleasant group that delivers primo "listening jazz."
