Windy City vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz knows how to utilize space. He also has a knack for crafting quirky themes that weave their way into your mind. Sometimes it's a single tone that hangs in suspended animation, other times it's a metallic soundscape that speaks of street lights, cities after dark and frozen highways. It's a half-awake state that he creates and inhabits on Sun Rooms with trio mates Nate McBride on bass and Mike Reed, who is superb at filling those spaces on drums. Press the repeat button, turn over in bed and wait for an inception agent to extract you from this dream within a dream.
While the tongue-in-cheek title of The Talented Mr. Pelt is a throwback to late 50s Prestige Records, the sound is rooted in the more adventurous work of Freddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter a decade later. But why get historical? This is superb post-bop music to enjoy today. Pelt's working group is tighter than ever, with pianist Danny Grisset and bassist Dwayne Burno just bristling with energy. Pelt's tone is bright and wide and it's a real treat to hear it intertwine with J.D. Allen's lithe tenor sax on the Shorter-inspired "When The Time Is Right." Fans of Wayne Shorter will also dig the ebb and flow of the tune "Pulse," in particular the creative fills of drummer Gerald Cleaver. But right now, I'm totally diggin' the following cut entitled "Only". Dig it and hear how talented Mr. Pelt really is.
No one is going to mistake the No BS Brass Band for being the shy, reclusive type. A small big band with an huge sound and a high energy vibe, this Richmond-based outfit specializes in getting folks to get on their feet. The emphasis here is second line style rhythms anchored by the gutbucket sounds of Stefan Demetriadis's contrabass tuba and topped off by trumpets, trombones, bullhorns and anything else they can think of. It's not for the timid, but it's one heck of a blow-out.
