Feature photo: Nils Winter
note: song performed in video above is not included in album discussed in this article.
Brian Charette is a NY-based organ ace who’s been called upon by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Chaka Khan, Paul Simon, Cyndi Lauper, Houston Person and Oz Noy. But he’s got several of his own projects going, one of which is an innovative sextet consisting of Charette, a drummer and four horn players. We absolutely loved that first record, Music For Organ Sextette, which seemed to make up its own rules on how to combine the groove elements of a B3 and drums with the swing from a large bank of woodwinds.
Power From The Air (SteepleChase Records) will be Charette’s third album with his Sextette. Over the last few years, the Sextette have gone through some personnel changes with only Mike DiRubbo (alto sax) and Charette himself held over from the combo that gave us Music for Organ Sextette. Itai Kriss (flute), Kenny Brooks (tenor sax), Karel Ruzicka (bass clarinet) and Brian Fishler (drums) round out the current alignment.
While the basic concept remains intact — and that’s why this album is a winner out the gate — the leader has tinkered with his approach over time. Power is more contemplative but at the same time, Charette tosses in some nifty harmonic devices here and there to throw you off guard.
“Fried Birds” signals that this record embraces be-bop, but not in the same, tired ways; the opening pattern has just a hint of dissonance in it. Ruzicka, Brooks, DiRubbo and then Kriss take their shots, each introducing themselves as ace practitioners of the form, and then Charette goes last. As has always been the case with him, Charette isn’t shoehorning Baby Face Willette into Sonny Stitt, he’s playing organ that suits the material in front of him.
“As If To Say” shows more adventurism, starting with a harmonically unusual, Tristano-ish cyclical figure and then upshifting into a swinging gallop that platforms more individual improv moments before a return to the original incantation. The unusual thing about “Silver Lining” is its 6/4 meter, which provides the foundation for the melody and Charette builds a chart around it that takes advantage of it.
The evolution of Charette’s horn arrangements is also evident on tracks such as “Power From The Air,” where there’s rich harmonies on the head that nicely complement the organ part, and solos each from a different horn player are slotted between each run of the chorus. “Elephant Memory” has a heavy soul flavor to it that blends in nicely with the swirling, ascending-chord chorus. “Frenzy” is funky, accessible and chock full of lively asides, and Charette inserts interesting little hitches into “Low Tide” that moves it beyond being simply a waltz.
Most of the fare are Charette originals but the leader leaves room for a couple of covers. The Sextette’s take on the jazz standard “Harlem Nocturne,” a fine vehicle for showing off the harmonies of the four-strong horn section, backing Charette’s lyric lines with a gentility of a big band. But Charette also slyly inserts brief moments of jarring discord into certain moments of the arrangement. The classic bop workout anthem “Cherokee” runs about twice as long as the other tunes here, but that’s because everyone gets their turn to show off their chops. Fishler with Charette’s bass pedals form a snappy, swinging rhythm undercurrent.
A less forceful, more subtle Brian Charette Organ Sextette has its own, new charms in addition to a lot of the old ones. The evolution of Charette’s best ensemble is coming along just fine with Power From The Air.
Power From The Air is slated to drop on March 12, 2021.
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