Lost at the Carnival - Jim Beard

May

11

Lost at the Carnival - Jim Beard

≡ Category: 1990s, Essential, Fusion, Post Bop, Reviews |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING

Rating:

Lost at the Carnival is quite a bit different from Jim Beard’s debut, Song of the Sun, which was written and arranged around the three incredible soloists Beard recruited for the date, Wayne Shorter, Toots Thielmans, and Michael Brecker. On the other hand, Lost at the Carnival seems purely designed to showcase Beard’s skills as an arranger and composer.

Loosely speaking, Lost at the Carnival is a concept album, bracketed by sound bytes of a fairground carnival placed before the first song and after the last song.

Beard’s compositions reflect the playful atmosphere of a carnival. Even when the music gets frenetic and a trifle spooky, there is never any question of real danger, but rather the illusion, like a haunted house ride. But where Beard really impresses on Lost at the Carnival is with his arranging, skillfully resolving all sorts of stylistics paradoxes.

For example, on Step Inside, he’s got a hip hop beat going, but he quotes from a cheesy elevator pop standard I can’t place. He’s got Jon Herrington playing through a wah-wah pedal, alot of his keyboard sounds are reminiscent of 70s era Steely Dan, and he’s using what sounds like a rudimentary sequencer for some of the drum parts. On top of all that, he adds bluesy fills on acoustic piano. It should be a mess, but it’s completely coherent.

On Chunks and Chairknobs, Beard balances three main elements: the rhythm guitar of Jon Herrington, a woodwind section, and acoustic piano. What’s the groove? I dunno how to describe it, but like the rest of Lost At the Carnival, it’s whimsical, upbeat, accessible, resolutely modern and yet somehow nostalgic.

That combination has gotten Beard in a lot of trouble, as unimaginative people routinely charge him with peddling fuzak. This is nonsense. What Beard doesn’t believe in is relying on noise, ugly sounds, grating dissonance and can-you-top-this instrumental shredding to prove his credibility as a serious musician.

But for those who have ears, don’t require macho posturing, and are unafraid of music that’s pretty instead of assaultive, Lost at the Carnival will come as a pleasant surprise.