If you’re into Coltrane, you’ll really dig Ted’s powerful, burning tenor sound. This, one of our top live recordings, captured the quartet on the last and best night of a great tour. The CD nails the gorgeously intimate ambience of that perfect, little concert hall and the raw dynamic impact of sitting three feet from those fiery young lions knocking the walls down. Down Beat gives it 3-1/2 Stars. Featuring Ben Allison (bass), Frank Kimbrough (piano) and Tim Horner (drums).
1. Out Of This World (H.Arlen, J.Mercer)
2. Hope (F. Kimbrough)
3. City Hall (T. Nash) -Listen to Sample
4. Sixteen and Eighteen (F. Kimbrough) -Listen to Full Song
5. Sadness (F. Kimbrough) -Listen to Sample
6. Hard Livin' Alone (Floyd Dixon)
You can tell a lot about a band by the cover tunes it chooses. Here, Out Of This World, a Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer composition that John Coltrane adopted for his modal explorations, embodies this quartet's style: a blend of straightahead grooves and post-bop harmonics that encourages plenty of extended blowing.
On six songs, including five originals (recorded in concert with Mapleshade's usual pristine aural setup), the New York-based band comes across as a strong unit with accomplished soloists. Kimbrough is featured on his own Hope, a poignant ballad, weaving in a Bill Evans vibe with the emotional depth it takes to create a personal voice. On the bluesy, Ornette-ish Sadness, also his, and the album's uptempo songs, he adds occasional Tynerisms to good effect. Nash, inspired by classic-quartet-era Trane, plays the more lyrical end of the spectrum. He occasionally edges toward raw emotion, as when he and drummer Tim Horner duet, à la Trane and Elvin, on a few choruses of the title track.
This band may not be forging its own new jazz style, but listen to Necessary Risks. It's fast and hot, Nash noodles Ornette-like, Kimbrough's dissonant syncopations add tension, the rhythm section burns. Not out of this world, but certainly a nice bit of it. -Suzanne McElfresh
