by S. Victor Aaron
Jazz label Anzic Records is only about four years old but has already made a real impact for young, talented New York-based musicians. Co-founded by Israeli-born clarinet/saxophone whiz Anat Cohen (who was profiled in my list of “Young Lionesses” up-and-coming female jazz stars), this record company has been the home for artists like Cohen and her two brothers, Yuval and Avishai (the trumpet player, not the bass dude), pianist Jason Lindner and saxophonist Joel Frahm. In fact, we’ve profiled here recent releases by both Frahm and Avishai Cohen.
Curious enough to explore this label’s other offerings? Visit their website here. Or, you can stay put and I can tell you a little more about two of their latest ones. One is by Frahm teaming up with organ legend Bruce Katz and the other by a great session bass player Joe Martin, who is showing his abilities as a composer and leader. Both records take different approaches to jazz but the musicians involved bring a lot of playing abilities to the table.
Joel Frahm/Bruce Katz Project A
photo: Chris Vitarello
The “A” in Project A means “Aretha” and I don’t have to tell you which Aretha I’m talking about. Aretha Franklin is such a larger-than-life figure that it takes at least two fine musicians—like Frahm and Katz—to properly pay tribute to her.
For the keyboard player, there really isn’t a better choice than Bruce Katz. Katz has for over twenty years been a highly in-demand B-3 organ player in soul-blues circles, gaining much of hi s reputation during a five year stint with Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters. But he’s also played for Little Milton, Duke Robillard, Gregg Allman, John Hammond and a host of others. We previously raved on his contributions to Bryan Lee’s Katrina Was Her Name CD from a couple of years ago and he’s been a critical cog in a few other Lee albums. Simply put, Katz makes whoever he plays for sound better. It’s not like he can’t tackle jazz, either. He earned a Master’s degree in it from The New England Conservatory and has taught at Berklee.
Frahm has more than met Katz halfway, though. He puts aside his highly developed modern jazz style in favor of a gritty soul approach. He has all but assumed a completely different identity for this undertaking. Here, he’s much closer to Hank Crawford than he is Sonny Rollins, and for this set, that’s the right direction to take. This crack band is rounded out by two bass players (Marty Ballou, Jerry Jemmott), two drummers (Lorne Entress, Ralph Rosen), a guitarist (Chris Vitarello), and a couple of supporting horn players for a few tracks (Jay Collins, baritone sax; Kenny Rampton, trumpet).
The music these guys present is soulful, just as you’d expect any reasonable tribute to the Queen of Soul to be, but it wouldn’t be fair to say that it sounds just like Franklin’s music. Instead, they could be mistaken for the house band for Saturday Night Live, except with a better keyboardist and sax player. “The House That Jack Built” oozes with J.B. funk, while Stephen Stills’ “Love The One You’e With” is urban cool (yes, Aretha covered this tune). A couple of Franklin’s own songs made it into this group: a church-going rendition of “Spirit In The Dark,” and a slowed-to-a-soulful shuffle version of “Rock Steady,” where Katz builds a bed of bluesy boogie and Frahm testifies with his big-toned tenor. Vitarello did a nice job throughout the whole album, and he gets rewarded with the spotlight on his blues chops in “It Ain’t Fair.”
It might be a little hard to wrap your brain around the idea of an Aretha Franklin tribute album where no one is singing, by Joel Frahm’s sax has filled in the lyrical role very nicely. Add to that Katz doing what he does best, and Project A gets a grade A for execution.
Project A was released on August 25.
Joe Martin Not By Chance
Joel Frahm made a diversion from his bread-and-butter modern jazz, the kind of jazz that bassist Joe Martin is celebrating on his second album, Not By Chance. Ones attention is initially captured before the CD is spun, though. Get a load of his backing personnel: Chris Potter on saxophones and bass clarinet, Brad Mehldau on piano and Marcus Gilmore on drums. You’d assume with a line-up like this, Martin must be good enough to hang with the heavies on the scene, and you’d be right. His list of credits include Art Farmer, Aaron Goldberg, Ivan Lins, Lionel Loueke, Ben Monder, Jane Monheit, Jaleel Shaw, Mark Turner, Fred Hersch, Maria Schneider, Anat and Avishai Cohen. We first tipped our hat to him last year for his strong effort on Kurt Rosenwinkel’s highly-acclaimed live document The Remedy.
Martin utilizes his high-powered backing band wisely. These guys do get to stretch out and show why they’re currently at the top of the jazz heap in New York (especially on the hard bop blowing session “In The Meantime”), but the things that listeners are most likely to take away with from these sessions are the well conceived compositions with memorable themes, and the sympathetic way every musician in the band approaches them. From the
delightfully funky Brazilian-based “Semente” and the detailed bassline found in “Caché,” to Wayne Shorter-styled blues of “Once Before” and the loosely-conceived “The Stoic,” Martin manages to make his bass the centerpiece of each song even when he doesn’t solo because his notes are clear, insistent and well-chosen.
The only non-original is Jaco Pastorius’ obscure “The Balloon Song,” which Martin uses in his daily practice regimen. Potter follows along in harmony to the briskly-walking bass figure that I would think strain the outer limits of most bass players’ capabilities. The song breaks open into free form, allowing each musician to add whatever shape they might feel works. It’s a testament to the “composing on the spot” capabilities of these musicians that they navigate through it intact.
Sometimes, even with the fine pedigree found on a record, it can still disappoint. This one doesn’t. Joe Martin has shown he can make the transition sideman to leader and composer without leaving behind the things that’s made him such a desirable sideman to begin with.
Not By Chance will go on sale September 15.
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