The Jazz Owl
  • Travis Rogers, Jr. -- The Jazz Owl
  • A Love of Music
  • Music Reviews
  • Reviews on Travis Rogers Jr.
  • Meetings with Remarkable People
  • SoulMates by Candlelight
  • Music in Portland
  • Toshi Onizuka
  • The Arts: Film, Literature and More
  • A Love of History
  • Baseball Stories
  • Personal Reflections

Charlie Dennard Takes Us into the Deep Blue

3/27/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
   Charlie Dennard has released Deep Blue, a trio album with a series of guest artists that turn this, Dennard’s fourth album as a leader, into a remarkable and exciting foray into larger formats without ever losing touch with the baseline trio. Whereas most of his previous recordings have limited his originals to one or two per album, on Deep Blue there are no less than seven originals. In other words, every song on the album is written and arranged by Dennard himself. And this is what I have awaited.
    Dennard has proven himself an excellent leader and performer time and again but now he releases an album that is completely dedicated to his own writing. It was worth the wait.
   St. Charles Strut is a straight up trio, with Doug Belote’s drums giving the cool introduction. Max Moran carries the bass and Dennard, of course, is on piano. Trois Fois and Joe’s Crusade are the other two tracks to feature the trio only. As a huge fan of the piano, bass, and drums trio format, these were especially appealing to me.
  Each one of those is different, from the cool hop to the sweet bop then to a Fender Rhodes lullaby. These guys are tight and together. Understanding the dynamics of the trio established in these three pieces gives a deeper understanding and greater appreciation for what they bring to the tracks with the guest musicians.
   Mojave is beauty with Marc Solis on flute, alto and tenor saxes, and bass clarinet. Josh Geisler adds the bansuri flute and Eric Lucero adds his smoking trumpet. But then the added percussion of Carlos Lopez, and tabla and sarod of Andrew McLean on top of Belote’s drums make this a rhythm-lovers dream. Dennard carries the cool melody and it makes the listener think how much fun these guys must be to see live.
   Wanderlust features Steve Masakowski on guitar and the passing of the melodic lines from him to Dennard and back with the sharing in between is terrific. As amazing as Dennard is and has been covering the tunes of others, hearing him interpret his own compositions is incredibly rewarding.
   Deep Blue, the title track, adds Brad Walker’s tenor sax and Lucero’s trumpet to the trio. It is here that Dennard’s darker shades are given greater rein. Darker but not melancholic or somber. This was the piece that drew me the most, I think. The mixing—done by Ben Lorio with mastering by David Farrell—was intriguing and satisfying.
   The album ends with Father, a bit of New Orleans Gospel with Brian Seeger’s bluesy guitar and a horn section of Lucero, Ray Moore on flute, alto and tenor saxes, Jason Mingledorf on tenor sax and bass clarinet, and Rick Trolsen on trombone. This was such a great piece to close the album. Lucero’s flugelhorn was…righteous. Seeger’s guitar…sanctified. But that trio…they are the stuff Jazz is made for.
   Charlie Dennard has made a remarkable contribution to the corpus of the Jazz trio in the composition and execution of Deep Blue. I love this album.
 
 
          ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    August 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Categories

    All
    Aaron Parks
    Akira Ishiguro
    Ches Smith
    Chuck Van Haecke
    Dewa Budjana
    George Colligan
    Goh Kurosawa
    Helen Sung
    Jack Dejohnette
    Kai Kurosawa
    Keith Jarrett
    Matt Mitchell
    Oscar Noriega
    Osmany Paredes
    Peter Erskine
    Pseudocidal
    Ruben Rodriguez
    Sharp Three
    Simakdialog
    Steven Kroon
    Susan Clynes
    Thierry Maillard
    Tim Berne
    Tim Berne's Snakeoil
    Tom Guarna

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.