Feature photo: Brian Bixby
In covering a dozen records led or co-led by L.A.-based trumpeter/composer/bandleader Dan Rosenboom over the last ten years, I’ve never heard him not push the envelope with whatever material he’s playing. That’s not changing with his 2023 offering Polarity.
Not with this lineup: for Polarity, Rosenboom had put together a team of all-stars starting with Given Templeton as his sax foil. The innovative pianist John Escreet is present as well, and Billy Mohler (bass) and Damion Reid (drums) form the rhythm section. The album grew out of some improv sessions Rosenboom led with Escreet, Reid and Mohler. When famed producer Justin Stanley got the idea to record them playing music without charts with Stanley adding post-production magic dust to the recordings, it seemed like the right thing to do. But Reid prevailed upon them to record the leader’s compositions instead and with Rosenboom’s most trusted saxophone partner Templeton added, the boys went to work and Polarity was born.
The original idea would have without question been a compelling creation but it’s hard to argue that the approach they went with was lacking in any way. They still take chances and invest a lot of confidence in each other, just as they would have done with the original plan. Rosenboom’s scores merely gave them more direction beforehand, and perhaps more variety as Rosenboom turned in a set of tunes that ranged from audacious to deliberate.
The album starts with the audacious. Rosenboom invested everything into the nearly twenty-minute saga “The Age of Snakes,” a modern day “Search For The New Land.” But instead of the floating, horn passage dancing around a swing, a contemporary, hip-hop groove mated to Mohler’s standup bass is inserted underneath with Escreet’s synthesizer occasionally swirling about. Rosenboom makes passionate blows that impact right and Escreet follows on piano contrasting with easygoing vamps. When Templeton steps up to the fore, Reid erupts and pulls the saxophonist into the ring with him. At that point, the song becomes a trusting of everyone’s instincts, flirting with free jazz but still outlined by Rosenboom’s chart. It’s also a clash of old and new jazz, the distinction of which is made almost irrelevant because it’s all jumping into the abyss together. The performance is emblematic of Rosenboom’s work, only more extremely so.
Most of the rest of the fare sticks to an all-acoustic format, but the chance-taking doesn’t subside. “A Paper Tiger” echoes the best of mid-60’s modern acoustic jazz but with the add kick of Reid’s impossibly densely-packed rhythm, providing the right launching point for furious solos from Rosenboom, Templeton and Escreet before Reid himself gets a spotlight. Templeton switches from alto to the baritone saxophone for “War Money” and “Minotaur,” both presenting a tense, urgent swing that pushes the soloists to stand up and be counted.
On the solemn, inhibited “On Summoning the Will,” Rosenboom plays a flawlessly executed horn that’s plaintive tinged with hope, reflecting his wife’s ultimately successful battle over breast cancer, while “Ikigai” is notable for Escreet’s vivacious, imaginative piano delivery. “Tidal Mirror” sets itself apart from the other tracks in that it’s expressly a mood piece, a wistful and eerily lonely mood set down by Escreet’s hovering synth backdrops.
Dan Rosenboom finds a powerful conduit for his creative ideas in Templeton, Escreet, Mohler and Reid, enabling him to fulfill the promise of all of his compositions with the uncompromising Polarity.
Polarity goes out on April 28, 2023 by Rosenboom’s Orenda Records. Pre-order/order it from Bandcamp.
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