Ben Allison – Think Free – Palmetto

by | Oct 12, 2009 | Jazz CD Reviews | 0 comments

Ben Allison – Think Free – Palmetto PM 2140, 45:29 ****:

(Shane Endsley – trumpet; Jenny Scheinman – violin; Steve Cardenas – guitar; Ben Allison – bass; Rudy Roysten – drums)

Whether he meant to or not, bassist Ben Allison has created a jazz album for alternative rock fans. Allison’s third effort for the Palmetto label, Think Free, follows in the footsteps of likeminded records Cowboy Justice (2006) and last year’s Little Things Run the World. On those earlier outings Allison began incorporating other elements into his music in an attempt to bring rock settings more to the fore and alter the concept of his band’s performance and his composition style. Think Free is the culmination of Allison’s endeavors to adapt and change from his chamber-jazz aesthetic to sound tapestries that should appeal to listeners familiar with The Cocteau Twins, Björk or Thom Yorke. The reason is because Allison deftly weaves melancholy melodies and suggestive rock music fragments into his arrangements.

Allison’s conceptual framework is not the only unique shift. He has also built a new quintet to convert vision into reality. Longtime friend and guitarist Steve Cardenas (a member of Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra) is back in the fold. Also along for the ride is trumpeter Shane Endsley (who has previously worked with pop-folk singer Ani DiFranco) as well as drummer Rudy Royston and violinist Jenny Scheinman, both veterans who have played with Bill Frisell, among others.

The eight track set begins with the seemingly simple piece, "Fred," which was named by Allison’s young daughter, perhaps for a family pet or favorite toy? The cut’s compelling candor is open and unobtrusive. Endsley dispenses a sonorous and shining solo over Royston and Allison’s pop-propelled beat, which contributes a lounge-styled affection to the song’s first half. When Scheinman steps up to the front with a folk-ish violin offering the arrangement takes on a slight folk/country tinge akin to certain Frisell excursions. Americana influences are even more overt on "Broke," which has a slower-paced Midwest perception marked by Cardenas’ easygoing and jazzy electric guitar, Scheinman’s lilting violin and Endsley’s gently muted trumpet.

Yet that’s just a warm-up of things to come. On "Platypus," the five musicians strip away many of the obvious elements of jazz to create music that is subtle and textured yet retains the feeling of both jazz and 90’s-era alternative rock. The tight, melodic and nimble number produces a flickering surrealistic space that nearly hides the odd time signature and complex syncopation. Cardenas’ guitar arpeggios move briskly throughout the seven minutes, touched by a lengthy, moody and shimmering efficacy that recalls Radiohead’s OK Computer. This is fusion music inspired not by sixties stalwarts like Sly Stone or Hendrix, but by Britpop and electronica.

The title for track four, the tensely dramatic "Kramer vs. Kramer vs. Godzilla," also cites rock music: it refers to a fictitious film name-checked during the faux hard rock documentary, This Is Spinal Tap. Thankfully Allison and his compatriots do not try to recreate that fake band’s "Jazz Odyssey." Instead the fivesome craft an animated excursion layered with restless violin, agitated guitar swells, breezy trumpet inflections and atmospherically elastic beats that elicit trip-hop exponents Portishead. During the performance, Endsley uncouples some tingling trumpet that is answered by Scheinman’s postured feedback and lightly abrasive bowing. The foreshortened "vs. Godzilla" that shows up later in the program is an improvised miniature parallel piece that has an ominous undertow highlighted by Endsley’s Harmon-muted ostinato.

Allison fans should recognize other undertakings. "Sleeping Giant" is a modification of "R&B Fantasy," from Allison’s 2004 project, Buzz, recorded with his previous group Medicine Wheel. The original version showcased a chamber-jazz proclivity whereas the new rendition veers into Allison’s stripped-down, rock-inclined direction. Endsley is firmly in the foreground with his trumpet, which shifts from unadorned to muted, while Roysten and Allison maximize a rolling cadence. The elegant and soulful "Green Al" – which is now dedicated to Al Gore and his fight against global warming – is another title first found on Buzz. This interpretation has a playful feel accented by Allison’s ardent bass plucking, Scheinman’s sweet tone and Endsley’s full trumpet sound. However, the most notable revision is "Peace Pipe." The 2002 rendering mixed African and Western instruments and featured Malian kora master Mamadou Diabate. Here, Cardenas, Scheinman and Allison combine to emulate the harp-like sound of the 21-string kora, not so much replicating Diabate’s intonation as using the kora’s pianistic characteristic to depict a fresh variation of the melodic lines. Cardenas, Scheinman and Endsley trade solo spaces on one of the album’s most swinging songs.

Ben Allison is proving to be a musician who never defaults. His latest enterprise is a noteworthy development of his current improvisational and compositional ideas and intents, is a memorable vessel for his most recent compositions and also demonstrates how he successfully and engagingly recasts his prior conceptions.

TrackList:

1. Fred
2. Platypus
3. Broke
4. Kramer vs. Kramer vs. Godzilla
5. Sleeping Giant
6. Peace Pipe
7. vs. Godzilla
8. Green Al

— Doug Simpson

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