Search - Paul Smoker, Vinny Golia :: Halloween, the Sequel

Heat & light

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 08/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first encountered the trumpeter Paul Smoker on Anthony Braxton's _Charlie Parker Project_, & I've gradually become acquainted with his own work. He's still far too little known, for a turmpeter who belongs up there with Leo Smith, Dave Douglas, Kenny Wheeler & Lester Bowie in the ranks of contemporary trumpeters. His playing experience runs from work with Dodo Marmarosa (the great, reclusive bop pianist best known for his work with Charlie Parker and Charlie Barnet) to contemporary classical music. His playing is technically very adroit; it can (as Cook & Morton's _Penguin Guide_ notes) suggest Don Ellis, though Smoker's use of a wide array of smears, half-valve effects, shakes & growls suggests a thorough knowledge of pre-bop trumpet too. On his (sadly out-of-print) Hat Art disc _Genuine Fables_, his rendition of "St Louis Blues" is a virtual musical history lesson, touching on Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis (the "Bags' Groove" solo) & the contemporary avantgarde. -- Vinnie Golia I know less well, though I picked this disc up after being impressed by a concert featuring him with the bassist Ken Filiano (also on this disc). He's a player impressive for his combination of an almost bewildering multi-instrumentalism--even Anthony Braxton & Eric Dolphy can't touch his general facility with the saxophone family, flutes, clarinets, & various other wind instruments--with a real virtuosity & finesse on anything he's playing at the moment. That said, I think at heart he's a baritone player, & on this album he sticks to that instrument except for a brief flute interlude.This was the second time this band convened for a recording (hence the "sequel" in the title): the music suggests a great deal of mutual understanding. One could call this "free jazz" but that would be to suggest white-hot rave-ups: it's music which despite the glowering baritone feels very open-textured & carefully put-together. In many ways the most heated player here is actually Filiano, with his roiling, propulsive bass that takes full advantage of the absence of a chordal instrument. Phil Haynes is a spry, lucid drummer; check out his work on "The Gremlin".A fine recording: state-of-the-art jazz of a thoughtful but often exciting variety. Those who like Atlantic-period Ornette Coleman, Braxton's 1970s quartet discs or the recent Gerry Hemingway groups should feel right at home here."