Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Paul Tynan & Aaron Lington: Bicoastal Colletive: Chapter 4

9

Paul Tynan & Aaron Lington: Bicoastal Colletive: Chapter 4

By

Sign in to view read count
Paul Tynan & Aaron Lington: Bicoastal Colletive: Chapter 4
Trumpeter Paul Tynan and baritone saxophonist Aaron Lington first met more than fifteen years ago when they were grad students at the University of North Texas in Denton. After gigging separately for a few years, they formed the Bicoastal Collective about a decade ago and have been playing and recording together ever since. This could reasonably be called the Binational Collective, as four of the five musicians on Chaper Four are Canadian, with Lington the lone American. He lives in California, Tynan in Nova Scotia, some 3,800 miles to the east. On this "nostalgic" studio session (also the name of one of the seven tracks), the front-liners are reinforced, "collectively," by organist Tony Genge, guitarist Jake Hanlon and drummer Terry O'Mahoney.

The word nostalgic is used to denote the album's rear-view character, which, instead of "back to the future" is more akin to "forward to the past," focusing as it does on the sort of bop-induced themes popularized in the '50s and '60s by such labels as Blue Note, Prestige and others. With Genge on board, it hearkens back to the heyday of Jimmy Smith, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Jimmy McGriff and their contemporaries. Even though all of the songs on Chapter Four were written by Lington (four) or Tynan, they are designed to rekindle dormant memories of the free-wheeling grooves laid down by those Hammond B3 masters of years gone by. They are, in Lington's words, however, "conceptually modern. The musicians, the harmonies, the rhythmic concept and the arrangements were all conceived without setting any boxes for ourselves."

That is clear from the outset, as Lington's "Un Petit Peu de Gras" sets a bluesy compass on which Genge shows his mettle with a sure-handed opening solo. "Nostalgic," Lington writes, is a bow to the Golden Age of American songwriting (Porter, Berlin and the like), while Tynan's even-tempered "L's Groove" was written not for Lington but for Tynan's daughter, Linnea. "Woodside," named for a community near Halifax, is a genial ballad with expressive solos by Lington, Tynan and Genge. "Lower Sackville Blues," a last-minute addition, is welcome for a number of reasons, one of which is that it expands the album's playing time to fifty-eight minutes. More to the point, it's a taut, fast-moving vehicle that sets the stage neatly for Tynan's closing numbers, "Pipe Down" and "Metaphor," the last based on Miles Davis' bop classic, "Four."

Individually or collectively, these are five first-class musicians, and their expertise and rapport are explicitly manifest on every page of Chapter Four. Let us hope the book has not been closed on the Collective, and that there are more chapters yet to come.

Track Listing

Un Petit Peu de Gras; Nostalgic; L’s Groove; Woodside; Lower Sackville Blues; Pipe Down; Metaphor.

Personnel

Aaron Lington
saxophone, baritone

Paul Tynan: trumpet, flugelhorn; Aaron Lington: baritone sax; Tony Genge: Hammond B3 organ; Jake Hanlon: guitar; Terry O’Mahoney: drums.

Album information

Title: Bicoastal Colletive: Chapter 4 | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: OA2 Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.