Class of 2001
September 2001

On the Loose
Sharp Nine
2001

Reviewed by
Chris Hovan
Jack Bowers

The six talented musicians who form the Sharp 9 Class of 2001 ranged in age from 21 to 25 when they recorded the album you have in hand. These new kids on the block play with the assured maturity of veteran improvisers, and project an organic, breathe-as-one ensemble sound. At various stages in their career path, each is thoroughly grounded in the vocabulary of their respective instruments without being copycats; everyone has a voice you can latch onto. James Moody might have been thinking of this lot when he said, not long ago, "The musicianship is much better with these younger musicians. They learn the changes from the getgo, and they play the hell out of them. They have the books, the teachers and the schools; if you feel you want to learn something, you can learn it from the bottom up -- and if you get a good teacher, you can play real quick."

"As the generations progress, there's more to learn," notes alto saxophonist Julius Tolentino [b. 1975]. "People like Wynton Marsalis and Terence Blanchard, or Roy Hargrove and Josh Redman sound different than when they came up; maybe they weren't dealing with as much of the language then, but now it's all together. I see younger and younger guys come to jam sessions with so much knowledge of the music. It's like a given already. You really have to have this foundation."

Tolentino knows this first-hand; for the last several years he and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, friends since 1997, have co-led a weekly session at Cleopatra's Needle on Manhattan's Upper West Side, where the sextet ironed out repertoire for a month before entering the studio. The latest in a long line of proteges of Jackie McLean at Hartt School of Music who have made their mark (Antoine Roney, Eric McPherson, Steve Davis, Mike DiRubbo and Jimmy Greene), Tolentino layers a creamy lead-alto sound with a tart tenorish attack reminiscent of McLean and Gary Bartz. Most recently, he's played in Eric Reed's sextet and the Illinois Jacquet Big Band.

McLean inspired Tolentino -- a freshman devotee of Phil Woods and Cannonball Adderley -- to investigate Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon; the disciple's idiomatic arrangements of McLean's jagged-intervalled "Bird Lives" and the complex changes of Dexter Gordon's "I Want More" bespeak how thoroughly he assimilated the message. Tolentino also brings in "Billie," a modernist blues by pianist Reuben Brown, and "Dedicated To Dad," an attractive original with a straight eighth feel.

A full-time New Yorker for two years, Pelt [b.1976] is one of the Apple's busiest young trumpeters, thanks to a huge sound, flyspeck reading chops, spongelike retention and ability to traverse with finesse and authority a wide range of styles and functions. Testifying to his skills are recent jobs with the Jimmy Heath Quintet, the units of Ralph Peterson and Lewis Nash, the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band with Louis Hayes and Vincent Herring, Lonnie Plaxico's Sextet, and the Mingus Orchestra.

Los Angeles-born, Pelt began classical trumpet studies at 6, and came to jazz in tenth grade -- the year Miles Davis died -- after hearing the Davis-Gil Evans version of "So What" from "Live At Carnegie Hall." In twelfth grade, upon hearing "Red Clay," he switched allegiance to Freddie Hubbard, impressed by Hubbard's technical brilliance and declarative attack. He spent his first few years at Berklee School of Music analyzing early Lee Morgan ("the swing; he had that lilt to his playing"). Then, he took on the Sisyphean task of transcribing and internalizing the challenging oeuvre of Booker Little, and soon found that "understanding and executing a lot of the really ridiculous stuff that Freddie plays was a little easier." He also dug Terence Blanchard for his lyricism and energy, his ability "to transcend the trumpet sound and play something that almost sounds like he's talking." His most recent inspiration is the go-for-broke ethos of Dr. Eddie Henderson, his 60-year-old section mate in the Mingus Orchestra, who recently commented how strikingly Pelt stands out from the crowd. You hear all these influences distilled into Peltian essence on "Reassurance," a rubato minor tune.

Tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland rounds out the front line; he and his identical twin, drummer E.J. [b.1979], faithfully attended the Cleopatra's Needle sessions during their undergraduate years at the New School along with classmate Brandon Owens, a bassist with strong time and a penchant for creating melodic basslines who currently plays with Benny Green and Monty Alexander, among others.

The Stricklands hail from Miami, Florida. They received their first lessons from their father, a classical percussionist, who played and broke down for them recordings by John Coltrane with Elvin Jones. Inspired by his band instructor, Marcus began transcribing Charlie Parker solos at 13, and in high school "went through phases of trying to sound like Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter and Branford Marsalis." Particularly on "For Fewer Words," a medium swing fanfare with dense counter harmonies and an attractive melody, Strickland's dark, husky sound and weaving lines evoke Henderson's float-like-a-butterfly, sting-like-a-bee cadences. In 2000 he had the opportunity to soak up the feeling of the late Milt Jackson during a week at Manhattan's Blue Note, and he presently workshops with cutting-edge drum legend Roy Haynes in informal sessions at the maestro's house.

A precise drummer with quick reflexes and an orchestrative bent, E.J. Strickland's influence tree begins with Elvin Jones and Jeff Watts, moves to Philly Joe Jones and Tony Williams, and incorporates Hiphop-into-Jazz drummen like Quest Love and Chris Dawes. "My Dad showed E.J. all the rudiments he knew and a few beats, and he took it from there," Marcus notes.

Last but decidedly not least is pianist Jeb Patton [b.1974], a native of suburban Maryland, who concentrated on Classical Music until he matriculated at Duke University in 1992, where the noted educator Paul Jeffrey stoked his jazz fires. Patton wrote a slew of charts for the school's big band and accompanied the numerous New York musicians who, at Jeffrey's instigation, performed at Duke each year. In 1996, he entered Queens College, where Jimmy Heath directs the jazz program; he's worked steadily with Heath (more recently with Etta Jones) since graduating with an MFA in 1997. Patton cites as prime influences McCoy Tyner, Bud Powell, Ahmad Jamal and Cedar Walton, but credits Queens College faculty member Roland Hanna ("delving into the piano and its capabilities, taking elements from great piano works of the 18th and 19th centuries, revamping and reinventing them, so that you don't just play right-hand melodies all the time, but use these devices as a springboard for your own way of improvising") as a recent inspiration.

Patton's immersion in Hanna's concept comes through in "All Is Not Lost," a ruminative original with a Bossa feel that displays true reverence for harmony; he pays homage to Heath on an arrangement of "The Quota," an early '60s Heath opus with a bracing shout chorus.

Like each member of the band, Patton is growing and evolving, springboarding from deep fundamentals to something increasingly personal. It's a good bet he and his cohorts will be among the consequential tonal personalities of the next several decades; "Class of 2001 Sextet" will provide future listeners a beautiful snapshot of the aesthetic from which they emerged.

Reprinted from the liner notes, Sharp-9 Class of 2001 by Ted Panken.