Underground - Chris Potter

Feb

21

Underground - Chris Potter

≡ Category: 2000s, Fusion, Highly Recommended, Jazz Funk, Post Bop, Reviews |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING

Rating:

Listening to Next Best Western, the opening tune of Underground (released on the Sunnyside label), I couldn’t help but be reminded of Traveling Mercies, Potter’s previous studio date. That’s true even though his band is completely different. Performing in his bass-less quartet are guitarist Wayne Krantz, keyboardist Craig Taborn, and drummer Nate Smith.

What reminded me of Traveling Mercies was the mercilessly thought out arrangement, requiring split second timing, a mastery of modern funk rhythms, and a high degree of virtuosity. The difference is that on Next Best Western, Chris Potter has thoughtfully placed the occasional pentatonic riff here and there to at least give the drowning listener something to grab hold of. Guitarist Wayne Krantz impresses with his ability to solo seamlessly over the brutal form, with it’s complex time signature. He sounds a bit like John Scofield, which is a compliment. Potter solos over a different section, sometimes honking and playing outside the range of his horn, other times building repetitive phrasing like building blocks, still other times racing through altered scales. Drummer Nate Smith solos over the form in a muscular fashion, while keeping the funk feel intact. At over nine minutes, Next Best Western is kind of exhausting.

It’s a good thing the next tune is a cover of Radiohead’s Morning Bell. Guitarist Wayne Krantz keeps up a percussive patter, while Potter plays the melody in a fairly straightforward manner. Craig Taborn acts more like a guitarist than a keyboardist, as he plays arpeggios on Fender Rhodes. The tune steadily builds in intensity, with Potter extending the melodies without leaving them completely behind. Chris Potter’s rendition of Morning Bell is faithful, but has been adapted to the sound and approach of his quartet, so it feels new.

After giving us this breather, it’s back to the salt mines with Nudnik. Krantz’s guitar and Taborn’s Rhodes start out intertwined in a percussive duel. Then Potter dives in with a start and stop B section, with the other musicians marking the accents almost like orchestra hits. Then we get a loosely swinging C section in what sounds like alternating measures of 7/8 and 9/8. I just gave up trying to follow what Chris Potter was doing compositionally at that point. Fortunately, Potter is not attempting to create a level of harmonic complexity to compliment the rhythmic challenges of the material, so the listener isn’t completely overwhelmed. As a soloist, Potter remembers to include an occasional melody or pentatonic hook in between the serpentine bebop lines, honks and squeals. On Taborn’s Rhodes solo, guitarist Wayne Krantz does an interesting thing. Instead of comping, he plays single note lines outlining the harmony, within the rhythmic scheme of the form.

Once again, Potter follows a mental workout with something somewhat restful, a cover of Billy Strayhorn’s Lotus Blossom. Craig Taborn’s keyboards on this number have a sound reminiscent of the keyboards on Minnie Ripperton’s old pop hit, Loving You, almost like a music box. As on the cover of Morning Bell, Chris Potter plays the melody with a minimal amount of ornamentation. The overall effect is dreamy and peaceful, a useful corrective to the difficult music of the originals.

The next tune, Big Top, represents a happy medium between the two approaches. The themes are more accessible than the first two originals on the set, but the arrangements are as intricate and interlocking as ever.

Apparently, Chris Potter learned something between recording Underground and Traveling Mercies. While not losing a whit of his trademark sophistication and rigor, he has learned to vary his approach and temper the intellectualism of his compositions with hooks in the form of repetitive rhythms and snatches of melody so his listeners don’t wither and dry up under a relentless sonic assault.

The end result is that Underground is both stimulating and a pleasure to listen to.