For Portland bassist
Aaron Immanuel Wright, his debut album could just about be mistaken for a Tim Willcox album.
Wright's pen is behind the full album, with outstanding original compositions that take in parts from bebop, modal jazz, and post-bop. The pieces are rich, textural, and full of life throughout. However,
Wright's bass is somewhat hidden behind the rest of the quartet. Willcox's tenor holds court up front, and does a beautiful job. He runs arpeggios, he swoons and sweeps through the scales, he fills the role the music gives him. At the same time,
Darrell Grant and Brian Menendez form a worthwhile rhythm section.
Wright, however, is nearly lost in the soundscape, leaving others to star in his production, as it were. Eventually, "Sunrise in Quebec" provides an outlet for a lengthy, contemplative solo from
Wright. The album closes out with an excellent rendition of
David Raskin's "Laura" that moves from a soft groove to a squealing crescendo and back and a more tribal-influenced bit of drum work. It's an outstanding effort of composition and execution alike, with the somewhat rare property that the composer stays in the background of his own ensemble, hidden for the majority of his own works. ~ Adam Greenberg