Marc Johnson’s Bass Desires – Second Sight – ECM Touchstones ECM

by | Oct 2, 2008 | Jazz CD Reviews | 0 comments

Marc Johnson’s Bass Desires – Second Sight – ECM Touchstones ECM 1351, 51:23 ****1/2:

(Marc Johnson – bass; Bill Frisell – guitar; John Scofield – guitar; Peter Erskine – drums)

Marc Johnson has practically made a career out of playing with famous jazz guitarists, and this is one of his finest efforts in this vein.  A follow-up to this group’s first outing, Bass Desires, Second Sight takes the original conception and takes it one step further.  The disc represents some of the best of what may be called “heartland jazz” out there.  Bill Frisell, Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny, and Ben Monder are perhaps most famous for this attractive jazz sub-genre which combines country, rock, and jazz elements.  Not surprisingly, Johnson has played with all of them except Haden, who, like the former, is a bassist.

Those who prefer guitar pyrotechnics rather than atmosphere may want to look elsewhere.  The vibe here is definitely highly evocative rather than virtuoso, although the boys do cut loose on several numbers, especially the rockish “Crossing the Corpus Callosum,” “Twister,” and “Thrill Seekers,” but even these have a certain restraint and stateliness you won’t find on a disc from, say, the Favored Nations label.  The most unusual cut, “1951,” is a cross between Western Swing and Theolonius Monk featuring Frisell’s pedal-steel sounding guitar, Sco’s trademark echoic approach, and a fine bass solo from Johnson.

Otherwise, the mood might be described as ECM Northerness transposed into the American heartland: plenty of space, huge vistas, and a warmth often lacking in the typical Scandinavian bands who dominate the label.  Certainly worth picking up if you missed it the first time around.  Now if ECM would only re-release Johnson’s great Right Brain Patrol disc . . .

TrackList:

Crossing the Corpus Callosum
Small Hands
Sweet Soul
Twister
Thrill Seekers
Prayer Beads
1951
Hymn for Her

– Jan P. Dennis
 

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