Tyler Blanton: Botanic

Ottimo Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Botanic

Tyler Blanton, at 29 a relatively young composer and vibraphonist, hails from Ojai, California, but has played in New York City since 2007. He isn’t well known at this point in his career, and hasn’t performed with any name artists; the same is true for the members of his quartet.

That said, unknown doesn’t mean unpromising.

Botanic, Blanton’s debut album, features eight of his own compositions. The style is more eclectic than traditional; while the music melodic, it doesn’t rate very high on the “swing-meter.”
At this stage of his career, Blanton’s talent is evident, but -- for me, at least – this is only borderline jazz. It’ll be interesting to see how he develops.