A trusty sideman heard on many jazz productions from the Czech Republic, bassist
Jaromír Honzák commits here a straightforward but rewarding album as a leader. His writing is elegant and graceful, with an important melodic input -- a nice change from the usual jazz bass player albums, which tend to be filled with tricky rhythmic patterns that have no meat around the bone. Listening to
Present Past, names like
Pat Metheny and
Chick Corea pop up instead of bassists. The reference to
Corea can be explained by the Fender Rhodes of Michal Tokaj. The other members of
Honzák's quintet are sax player Piotr Baron, guitarist
Christian Rover and drummer Lukasz Zyta. Tomás Cistecky adds clarinet in two pieces, but the surprise guests are
Tara Fuki's Andrea Konstankiewicz and Dorota Barová lending their voices to the closing "Hi!." Hard-bopping with a soft touch is
Honzák's favorite pastime it seems. The title track showcases his writing skills, its complex structure holding up very well. "Memory of the Grass" focuses more on the bass itself,
Honzák developing a lyrical solo. On the other hand, "Souvenir" gets too soft for its own good, its honey-like charm quickly becoming too sweet.
Present Past is a good album, without bells or whistles. And you can forget the fact that it's a bassist's project. ~ François Couture