Straight Ahead Jazz Played by Young Rising Stars
Scott Williams | Oakland, CA United States | 01/17/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Overview:
Jeremy Pelt has a beautiful warm tone, killer chops, writes great songs and has assembled a young band of rising stars. All of this adds up to a great new album, November. The album is fairly straight ahead post bop jazz. The album flows well from start to finish. There is a good mix of tempos, including burners like Phoenix, and beautiful ballads such as Rosalie. There are a lot harmonic horn lines and single note piano runs that create some memorable melodies. The band consists of Pelt on trumpet, JD Allen on tenor sax, Danny Grisset on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums. Jeff Haynes also plays percussion on track 1. While all of Pelt's sidemen play great, Danny Grisset really shines on the piano. His clean crisp sound on the keys reminds me of Cedar Walton and Bill Evans.
Song Highlights:
466-64 - This song was inspired by a recent trip Pelt took to South Africa where he saw Nelson Mandela's cell. The title of the song is a combination of Mandela's cell number + the year he was imprisoned. This song features the drummer more than all the other tracks and has a nice piano line.
Clairvoyant - Pelt's trumpet is muted on this track. He and Sax player JD Allen chase each other with a very clever and catchy melody line. As with all the songs on this CD there is a great piano line. I've been humming and whistling the main melody for days.
Phoenix - this song opens with frenetic bass and drums. After that Pelt and Allen trade breaks and try to one up the other with alternating short solo bursts.
Rosalie - This gorgeous ballad will remind you of all the prettiest sounding trumpeters of the past such as Clifford Brown, Miles Davis and Blue Mitchell. Pelt really knows how to put some feeling into a ballad.
All the songs are good and the highlights above a just scratching the surface. Highly Recommended.
"
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1
