“Surprise 1 short” begins Surprise Trilogy (1) in a declarative statement, “This is going to be a good jazz album,” and the following song, “Kenny,” does just as much to inspire this confidence. The bass makes a sultry stride up and down the fret board while Chris West and Don Aliquo’s sax scats around the scales, almost burping in a low register one moment and sweetly singing an octave higher the next. The song is indicative of the album as a whole; there’s a lot of variation—in tempo, instrumentation, and style. During some passages, West’s fingers follow a smooth legato, a procession of, if unlikely, euphonic notes; for others it sounds like barely-contained chaos. But the smooth, big band sound always returns, and you can picture couples swing-dancing the night away, the song (and album) itself wearing a flashy ball gown--a little too much in certain light, but always confidently sashaying its way through a room, turning heads.
“Bits and Pieces” ups the groove in swing time with a jazz flute mimicking the sauntering sax line. A guitar introduces a dreamy shimmer in the last minute of the song, soloing around while the keys and bass anchor the piece in place until “Next Step” brings the album to the next step, at least tempo-wise. Here the drums play a more involved role, spitting beats off the ride cymbal while the sax plays cross-rhythm. The improv gets pretty abstract, but the tinkling piano, metallic whispers and humming bass keep it grounded until the aptly named “Where I Got My Groove” takes off with a grunting, syncopated sax and the backing of New Orleans style group Halfbrass. There are no dull moments in this one, its slowed-down parts producing a greater tension through tricky improv that’s resolved with reedy woodwinds and a funky bass line. After such a fresh piece, “Truth” comes quite unexpectedly, beginning with almost avian whistles before the sax pierces the musical fog to deliver pure and uncomplicated free verse. Adam Agati’s mellow guitar from “Bits and Pieces” returns right before the instrumentation explodes into polyphony. Although “Mr. Grossman” features some fast footwork itself, the song pales in comparison to its neighbors, such as “My Reward,” which sounds like the kind of croon that would play in Lethal Weapon while Danny Glover drinks at the bar. The beat plods on like slowed footsteps while the sax sings of its broken heart over light piano chords. But “Surprise 1 Full” brings us back to the straight-ahead jazz, expanding off of track one’s trumpety bebop flair for almost eight minutes.
Overall, from the bebop of “Surprise 1” to the big easy “Where I Got My Groove” to the ballad “My Reward,” Chris West shows us a versatility impressive even in jazz musicians known for their ability to break from the mold. In just nine tracks, he packs complicated ideas into perfectly executed and engineered nuances. It isn’t just his collaboration with big names like Jeff Coffin (Mr. Grossman) of Béla Fleck & the Flecktones and Dave Matthews Band or saxophonist Don Aliquo that generate this album’s experimental sophistication. You can tell at first listen that this is the careful craft of a man who loves jazz, and knows how to work with and within it well.
Key Tracks- Kenny, Bits and Pieces, Where I Got My Groove
Sarah Madges- MuzikReviews.com Contributor
June 30, 2011
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