Thomas Marriott: Urban Folklore

Origin Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Urban Folklore

Origin Records and trumpeter Thomas Marriott are among this blog’s “old friends”; both were featured in some of my earliest reviews.  If you scan through the site's listing you'll find 7 CDs where they're featured together. Origin was among the first of the “new breed” jazz labels founded in the very late 20th century, and Marriott was — and still is — a frequent leader or sideman on the company’s albums.

Marriott is a West Coast artist, having begun in the musically diverse Seattle area.  After winning a prestigious jazz trumpet competition in 1999, he relocated to New York City and then toured the world as a member of Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau Band. Marriott has played with scores of great and near-great artists. He’s a master of his instrument; his tone can be brilliant or lush, depending on what the music requires, and he can swing superbly.

Marriott is supported here by pianist Oren Evans, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Donald Edwards. Marriott wrote and arranged all the tunes, and his melodies are oriented by theme. “Living on the Minimum,” as one example, relates to times in life when one may have money problems, and must make every penny count; “What Emptiness Can Do” reflects on the loss of a loved one. Alternatively, when everything is going great, your thoughts may turn toward a good friend: “Mo-Joe” is dedicated to Joe Locke, one of Marriott’s favorite artists. 

This album is ideal for listeners in the mood for some truly “adult” jazz.

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!