Search - Joe Locke :: Beauty Burning

Joe Locke and Frank Kimbrough . . .

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 03/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

". . . a marriage made in heaven?



I'm beginning to think so. There's such an uncanny simpatico, such spectacular empathy, going down whenever these two get together, that one wonders why they don't form their own band together. Kimbrough and Locke--perhaps the two foremost contemporary jazz practioners of their particular instruments (piano and vibes) of the new millennium--never fail to produce music of the absolute highest standard. One thinks, for example, of their brilliant disc, The Willow (featuring spectacular percussion by the inimitable Jeff Ballard), as well as Saturn Cycle, another formidable outing. Add monster players Ray Drummond (bass) and Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums) and you have the makings of an absolute monster session. The inclusion of Paul Bollenback on guitar on three numbers only gooses the proceedings into even higher levels of felicitation.



Having listened to literally scores of Locke recordings, I can't understand why he isn't a major star of contemporary jazz. Certainly (with Steve Nelson, Stefon Harris, and Christos Rafalides) among the most creative of the post-Bobby Hutcherson generation of vibists, Locke has long since merited prime consideration as the inheritor of the Lionel Hampton vibraphone legacy.



This disc certainly does nothing to dispel that notion. One thing Locke accomplishes that few other vibists have been able to do is to situate his playing alongside a piano, an instrument of similar percussive and tonal dimensions, and still achieve enough timbral diversity and variety as to make the proceedings consistently interesting. Yes, the great Modern Jazz Quartet, featuring Lionel Hampton and John Lewis, assayed similar territory, but Locke/Kimbrough update and trump that venerable outfit, at least in my humble opinion.



A hugely significant though largely neglected disc. I urge you to do your part and "lock" onto this glorious music."