Smokin’ In The Pit - Steps

Nov

7

Smokin’ In The Pit - Steps

≡ Category: 1980s, Music Reviews, Post Bop, Recommended |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING

Rating:

Smokin’ In The Pit is a 2 CD live release from the first incarnation of Steps Ahead, a jazz supergroup comprised of Michael Brecker on tenor sax, Mike Mainieri on vibes, Steve Gadd on drums, Don Grolnick on keys, and Eddie Gomez on bass. On one tune, the band is joined by Kazumi Watanabe on guitar.

Every one of these guys is a total badass. Most of these tunes are extended romps and give the band a chance to stretch out and explore the fullest possible range of dynamics.

It is very cool to hear a killer band like this take a great tune like Joe Zawinul’s Young and Fine through every possible permutation. The Weather Report version basically just went through the head, did a vamp over which Wayne Shorter soloed and that was it. Steps’ performance of this tune will give you a new appreciation for it.

Mal Waldron’s Soul Eyes gets a soulful but respectful treatment from all concerned. It’s difficult to pinpoint how, but Steps somehow makes this standard sound very modern, like it could have been written yesterday. It’s lovely.

Not Ethiopia is turned by bassist Eddie Gomez into a beserk samba. Kazumi Watanabe takes over the role Barry Finnerty played on the Brecker Brother’s Heavy Metal Bebop album, laying on a fairly typical fusion guitar solo for that period, which isn’t to put it down. For Michael Brecker’s solo, Gomez takes the tune into swing time. It’s all fairly exhausting.

Sara’s Touch, an original by Mike Mainieri, provides a much needed rest for the ears. It’s a pleasant tune, but it’s pretty poppy and doesn’t really amount to much.

Tee Bag is another original by Mainieri, a blues that breaks out of the form a little about 17 bars into the form. The form is interesting enough that it doesn’t feel like just another blues, but it gives the band a chance to play with a known quantity. They pull and stretch the time, they play across the bar, employ lots of altered scales, and sometimes all of the above at the same time. It’s a lot of fun.

Another tune that’s alot of fun is Don Grolnick’s Fawlty Tenors, obviously conceived as a tribute to the John Cleese classic TV series Fawlty Towers. The shoe fits. The tune is a rollicking Latin piece in a minor key which exudes the sort of upscale panic associated with the John Cleese character. It’s a riot.

In essence, Smokin’ In The Pit is a mainstream jazz date. No new ground is broken. But as a document of six of the finest instrumentalists in jazz stretching out and exploring the implications of a tasty cross section of originals and standards, it’s pretty hard to beat.