JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING

Rating:


I’ve got to admit, I’ve been sleeping on Terence Blanchard. I had the impression that he was a traditionalist in the Wynton Marsalis mode. Guess not.

Flow Part 1, starts out with a tasty groove, courtesy of Derrick Hodge on acoustic bass and drummer Kendrick Scott. Blanchard’s head plays around the implied tonal center and you can’t really tend when his improv begins. I’m not sure whether it was producer Herbie Hancock’s influence or not, but there are some electronics on this track and some guitar from African musician Lionel Loueke. On part 2 of Flow, Loueke feeds his guitar through electronics for some nifty effects.

Things get even more adventurous on Wadagbe, with chants, percussion, African grooves, and a doubled bass and guitar ostinato. When Blanchard starts the melody, guitarist Lionel Loueke sometimes doubles it and sometimes plays accompanying arpeggios. Saxophonist Brice Winston also enriches the head. At some point, pianist Aaron Parks joins in. When Winston takes a solo, it’s fierce but also respects the compositional structure Lionel Loueke has put in place. He’s not just blowing, he’s trying to be part of the total effect. Lionel Loueke is a real find. He plays beautiful, totally original post bop lines on guitar, singing along with them. He also comps part of his solo, and his voicings are gorgeous and unusual.

At this point, I’ve got to admit, I’ve never heard of these people. Good for Terence Blanchard. On the one hand, he’s giving young people a chance to get themselves known. At the same time, he isn’t compromising on talent or ability one whit. These kids smoke.

Blanchard himself is impressive in his note choices. He can also riff with the best of them. Occasionally, he has the tendency to bluster or bully, but that’s the worst I can say about him.

Finally, we get a fairly conventional jazz tune. I fully expected it to be written by Blanchard, but actually it was composed by Lionel Loueke, who also wrote Wadagbe! Still, with the busy bassline, and the acoustic guitar of Loueke, it still has plenty of interest. Aaron Parks gets a chance to shine on piano and he proves himself to be thoughtful and lyrical in his approach.

Blanchard’s Wandering Wonder is even more explicitly post bop in conception, but there is plenty to hold one’s interest. It has a bewilderingly complex structure, with thickets of gnarly grooves and harmonies to hack through. Pianist Aaron Parks has a pointillistic solo that echoes some of the stylistic devices in the piece.

With Kendrick Scott’s The Source, we get a ballad with balls. As befits a drummer’s composition, there’s plenty of rhythmic interest, but it’s also harmonically rich, with some pretty melodic fragments. It’s mysterious and evocative and never once sappy. Of course, a lot of that is due to the sharp performances of the musicians.

Bassist Derrick Hodge’s Over There is even prettier. It’s almost pop like in the singability of it’s melody, and it has a very nice sense of melancholy. Wisely, the band doesn’t overplay it. In a date full of thorny, blistering ensemble playing, Over There shows that Terence Blanchard and his band can play simply when they want to. Over There is a very emotional piece.

Flow goes through any number of compositional and performance styles. If there’s any commonality, it’s in the intensity of the band’s approach. This is go for broke playing. Amazingly, with a band this young, the performers have the musical maturity to pull it off. I wonder how much producer Herbie Hancock’s coaching had to do with it.

In any event, Flow is very adventurous, first-rate post bop, which incorporates elements from world music, funk, and pop. I don’t even know why I’m not giving it an Essential rating. Flow is well-performed, innovative conceptually, and powerful. Probably I would like it to be even more accessible. That’s kind of a copout, but it’s the best I can do.

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