By Ric Bang
Buy CD: This Is Trumpetology
This
album is quite different than any I’ve encountered thus far. It features a
brass section of half a dozen trumpets, supported by a rhythm section of piano,
bass and drums.
The
selections are jazz standards that have been featured, and often composed, by trumpet
artists such as Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown,
Freddie Hubbard and Kenny Dorham. The menu features “Autumn Leaves,” “Milestones,”
“Sidewinder,” “Anthropology,” “Blues Walk,” “Skydive,” “Prince Albert,” “So
What,” “Unit 7,” “Summertime” and “I Wish.” (Longtime jazz fans should have no
trouble associating each tune with its featured musician.)
The
ensemble is headed by Walter Simonsen, who plays trumpet/flugelhorn and is a
composer, arranger, conductor and educator at the University of Southern
California. The brass section consists of students who are artists and
educators in their own right: James Blackwell, Tim Gill, Brian Mantz, Brian
Owen and Cameron Summers.
Two
rhythm sections are utilized: pianist Adam Bravo, bassist Alex Frank, and drummer
Adam Alesi on three tracks; and pianist Kait Dunton, bassist Cooper Appelt, and
drummer Jake Reed on the other eight. Simonsen arranged each chart, and the
liner notes identify the featured soloists.
A
unified trumpet section can be fantastic; remember the GRP Big Band’s choruses
on “Cherokee”? Well, the section
work here is technically equal, and the individual solos are great. I have only
one caveat, which I’ll call an absence of “looseness.” There isn’t a fluff anywhere,
but that makes these performances almost too perfect. A metronome keeps perfect
time, but it doesn’t swing; these artists would be better swingers if they’d
relax a bit.
That
aside, this is a fine, fine album.
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