What's New on WDCB... with Paul Abella

Neil Swainson Sextet – Here for a While (Cellar Music)

Canadian bassist Neil Swainson has been around long enough to have played with some legendary players who have spanned numerous generations. Here for a While, his latest album for Cellar Music, features Swainson alongside a multi-generational cast that proves that not only has he, well, been here for a while, but also, that he can change with the times. His fellow rhythm section players, pianist Renee Rosnes and drummer Quincy Davis would set nearly anyone up for success. And the three horn players at the front of the band; trombonist Steve Davis, saxophonist Kelly Jefferson and trumpeter Brad Turner ensure that there are myriad great musical ideas in the air throughout the album’s hour long run time. It’s unusual to start things off with a ballad, but Swainson does just that on “At the End of the Day,” and it’s a lovely piece of music. On the other hand, if you want to groove to hard swingin’ tour de force like I do, you might prefer jamming along to “LaGrange Point.” “Bend” proves that Swainson is hip to the innovations happening in modern acoustic Jazz, and “One for Rob” is a taste of the tastefully swinging, be-bop influenced Jazz that nearly any Jazz fan can get behind. Not only has Neil Swainson been Here for a While, but he’s absorbed what he’s heard the entire time, too.

Art Hirahara – Good Company (Posi-Tone)

Art Hirahara’s Good Company is an interesting album. A trio of trumpet (Ron Horton), guitar (Paul Bollenback) and piano (Hirahara) is bound to make some interesting music no matter what, but the sheer amount of ground that they cover in thirteen songs is impressive. What’s really interesting is that the first track, Bollenback’s “Shambolic,” which hints at a hybrid of Jazz and New Age, does not at all set the listener up for the rest of the album. And who ever thought that an Andrew Hill tune (“Laverne”) would sound so boppish, and downright Oscar Peterson-ish? That thoroughly swinging vibe shows up again on Hirahara’s “Soho Down” and “Drop and Drag.” If there’s a hero to be had on Good Company, it’s Art Hirahara’s left hand, which keeps the walking basslines and the resultant swinging grooves prevalent throughout the proceedings. Bollenback’s tasteful playing fits all of the various moods that are encountered on Good Company, and Ron Horton’s trumpet playing adds a sense of deep beauty to the compositions heard here. This is genuinely a gorgeous album that you’ll be hearing a lot of on WDCB.

Michael Mayo – Fly (Artistry)

Vocalist Michael Mayo has recently released his album Fly. Joined by a stellar rhythm section of Shai Maestro (piano), Linda May Han Oh (bass) and Nate Smith (drums), Fly is a fascinating document. On the one hand, it’s an interesting collection of standards sung by a talented singer with a great supporting band (“Just Friends,” “I Didn’t Know What Time it Was,” “It Could Happen to You,” “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most,” “Four”). These are all lovely renditions of these classics, and “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” even gets its rarely sung verse. On the other hand, Mayo is the second coming of Al Jarreau, with his scatting ability, as heard on “Speak No Evil,” or the tonality and vibe of the performances, like on “Bag of Bones” or “Fly.” If this is a hint of what’s to come from Mr. Mayo, I am looking forward to a future of nimble vocalese performed with some rock-solid combos that can keep up with him. That’s a bright future, indeed.