Men who know how to play
Scott Williams | Oakland, CA United States | 02/06/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Overview:
Jeremy Pelt is one of the best modern trumpet players and he has one of the best contemporary jazz bands in 2010. "Men of Honor" is a fairly straight forward post bop jazz CD. On "Men of Honor" Jeremy is not trying to invent new sounds or play some sort of style that hasn't been heard before, rather Pelt is playing some straight forward jazz and showing off his personal style and talents and those of his bandmates on songs written by Pelt and his band. Pelt is joined by pianist Danny Grisset, tenor saxman J.D. Allen, Dwayne Burno on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums. While the whole band is amazing, Grisset really shines on this album. Grisset is arguably one of the best pianists playing in 2010. If you don't agree take a listen to Grisset's 2009 release Form or his work on Tom Harrell's Prana Dance. While his style is totally different than Bill Evans, he has that pretty cascadingly smooth sound that Evans had. This combined with Pelt's gorgeous tone make for some beautiful music.
Song Highlights:
Danny Mack - This song starts with a dark single note descending piano riff that ends in an abstract monkish piano chord. This wild piano line is played in contradiction to a sax and trumpet horn line with dramatic effect. This fantastic intro eventually gives way to a very free improvised section that shows of the soloing skills of the entire band.
From a life of the same name - Wow what a beautiful ballad! Pelt and Grisset's sounds are so clean and nice they make an ideal pairing for a ballad and the band really knows how to set the mood.
Brooklyn Bound - J.D.Allen's tune is really reflective. It conjures up the thoughts you might have while taking the slow train home to Brooklyn late a night.
In the straight ahead jazz scene in 2010, this is as good as it gets. Highly recommended.
"
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1