In its admirable quest to issue fine recordings regardless of genre or outward commercial appeal, Nonesuch Records has released a live disc of the exciting, cross-generational SF Jazz Collective. This self-titled set is taken from a triple-CD collection available only through its website. The band is a who's who of jazz talent, and includes the venerable vibraphonist
Bobby Hutcherson, trumpeter
Nicholas Payton, saxophonists
Joshua Redman (the group's artistic director), and
Miguel Zenón, drummer
Brian Blade, pianist
Renee Rosnes, bassist
Robert Hurst and trombonist
Josh Roseman, with arrangements by
Gil Goldstein. The group picks the work of a jazz composer's top study every year, and for 2004 it was
Ornette Coleman. There are three of his compositions on this release, along with works by bandmembers. The
Coleman tunes are revelatory with brilliant work by the two saxophonists. The ensemble is tight, focused, and swings hard. "Peace" is a knotty tune with many twists and turns in its head, it is flawless and inspired.
Rosnes does a fine job of piloting the band through the work which wasn't scored with a piano in mind. And in the soloing there is no ego-tripping -- the tune and the band are served. Likewise with the gorgeous "Una Muy Bonita," with its staggered rhythms and bright melodic frame.
Hurst's bassing here is the engine, nurturing the rhythm along seamlessly as the front-line players sift and sing through the changes. The interplay between
Payton and
Zenón is delightful. The originals may not be as memorable as
Coleman's, but all are notable.
Zenón's "Lingala" opens the set in a minor key head of vibes and
Payton's elegiac trumpet before the tune breaks open into virtual song. The bluesy Eastern mode of
Redman's "Rise and Fall" with its long, spacious line is just lovely, as is
Rosnes' complex, lilting "Of This Day's Journey," with a beautifully tender and empathic solo by
Hutcherson. The vibist's playful yet dramatic "March Madness" closes out this disc. It's tensile, quiet opening is turned upside-down a minute in as
Hurst begins strutting out front before the front line answers in harmonic counterpoint.
Payton's solo, with its taste, fire and supreme melodic sense, is the high point of the tune. This is as impressive a debut as we've heard in recent years, by a band who not only play like one, but who respect the jazz tradition enough to actually extend it with creativity, vision, and sensitivity in the current millennium. ~ Thom Jurek