• Ben Adams Quintet, Old Thoughts for a New Day (2006, Lunar Module Records)
• James Westfall, Independent (2006, Bionic Records)
• Matthias Lupri Group, Metalix (2006, Summit Records)
  

Sometime last year, three CDs led by young vibraphonists landed on my desk. I gave each a few spins and found each enchanting in its own unique way. I took the CDs and my portable Discman along on my camping trip in the Canadian Rockies. (I-Pods have not invaded my vast technological realm to this point.) We played the CDs in the camper van, my friend Judy remarking that the music was “really cool.” I scribbled notes that I couldn’t decipher back home. And then the CDs remained in my “to review” pile for months, not because they fell out of favor but because…. Deadlines intervened. I met some of those deadlines and figured it was time to listen again and make a commitment to inform the jazz world that some truly exciting music is coming from these energetic and creative ensembles, all built around that somewhat mysterious, but oh-so-ethereal instrument. Some of my favorite jazz has come from the legendary vibes masters, from Milt Jackson to Bobby Hutcherson to Gary Burton, as well as the “new legends,” Stefon Harris and Steve Nelson. If the likes of Ben Adams, James Westfall and Matthias Lupri reflect the current state of jazz vibraphone, then their legacy is in good hands. 

As jazz artists go, these guys are still young (late 20s to early 40s), yet also veterans of performance and recording. Their various paths – from drummer to vibist – brought each to one of the epicenters of jazz, the Berklee College of Music, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles—different incubators, different approaches to composition and ensemble arrangements, but each attaining a similar result: creative and accessible modern jazz. 

Panorama

My favorite song on this splendid album is the swinging first track, “Midtown Shuffle.” The tempo is helped along by the nimble fingers of pianist Onaje Allen Gumbs and Mark Shim’s tenor saxophone. Shim’s sax solo is gold. The mix is good and at 5:55, “Midtown Shuffle” has enough good grooves to feast on, but does not overstay its welcome. Maurice Brown’s whinnying trumpet embellishes the rhythm.

The rouge colored bop tune “Panorama,” serves up a three- way dialogue between Galaher’s drums, Brown’s wailing trumpet and Gumbs’ piano chops. Galaher makes liberal use of his cymbals and his drumming is often frenetic. Collectively and individually, “Panorama” gives the musicians a chance to shine.

Imagine This

The fun gets started with a cover of Steely Dan’s “Peg,” authored by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. Braxton triples on keyboards, soprano and tenor saxes. He also produced and wrote the instrumental arrangements for the song. Kevin Whalum handled the vocal arrangements and also provided background vocals with Kimberly Mont.  

I would like to say that this is a very good CD, but those words seem so inadequate when describing track after track of glorious grooves, melodies and rhythms. Braxton’s soprano saxophone courts Brian Simpson’s piano chops on “Escape,” a Joe Ninowski tune.      C.J. Roland and Ninowski’s percussion keep the dance lively. 

A Day Like This

It doesn’t seem to matter if it is Kinhan’s lush vocals on “The World Keeps You Waiting,” Nazarian’s cooing on “In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning,” or Meader’s scat solo on “On A Clear Day;” the vocal ensemble is always breathtaking. The timbre of Eldridge’s voice adds depth and texture to many of these great songs.  

The elegant, well-textured arrangements written for songs such as “A Day Like This,” or Meader’s arrangements for “On A Clear Day,” are in my estimation even better than the original arrangements. That is no disservice to Burton Lane (lyrics by Alan Lerner), who wrote the song for the musical, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever; it is simply to say that Darmon Meader took an already strong composition and made it even better.

At Last

If you want to catch a young jazz singer whose star is quickly rising, you may want to give a listen to Lauren White’s CD At Last. White, who is barely out of her teens, has a captivating voice that is smooth and technically sound. On At Last, she, along with producer Joe Harley, put together a collection of songs that for the most part were well known before White was born. Songs such as Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou” and “Superstar” are part of what is now commonly referred to as the new American songbook. Others, such as Ira Gershwin’s “My One and Only” Kurt Weill’s “Mack the Knife,” made famous by Bobby Darin, and Cole Porter’s “Love For Sale,” belong to the collection of classic tunes that can also be found on At Last. White collaborated on the writing for three songs, “All I Do Is Cry,” “Do You Remember,” and “Brand New Love.”

The only flaw in White’s presentation is that she still lacks the ability to evoke an emotional response from the listener. One should expect that from a twenty-year-old who has not yet lived a lot of years in which to experience heartbreak relationships or the thrill of discovering a love that you would crawl across a hot desert to pursue. Those things come as you go through life, and a good vocal coach, such as her current one, Rosana Eckert, will eventually pull those emotions from her. Eckert also serves as the vocal coach for Norah Jones, and she is a professor in the highly esteemed music department of the University of North Texas.

Midnight Serenaders: Magnolia

New Orleans, arguably the birthplace of jazz, was the perfect place for an art form to grow that would incorporate so many diverse elements. The first brass bands playing dances, bars and other colorful places in the Storyville area of New Orleans relied on a simply form--a specific rhythm was set up and people would shake their thing on the dance floor or march down the streets in a funeral procession. Slowly, soloists and their distinctive voices started creeping into the music, playing a more prominent part and serving as catalysts for more complex arrangements. The innovations of Kid Ory (1886-1973), Joe “King” Oliver (1885-1939), Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) and Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931) brought jazz closer to the art form as we know it today. The tempos and rhythms still strongly emphasized dancing, but now too there were the beginnings of more formalized arrangements for the band.