Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Steve Nelson: Fuller Nelson

212

Steve Nelson: Fuller Nelson

By

Sign in to view read count
Steve Nelson: Fuller Nelson
This dancing, jubilant recording breaks no new ground, but it beautifully realizes the old-fashioned notion of joy in swinging. The trio makes its way through a program of originals (real melodies, not just notes to get to the blowing) and standards, sans drummer, without missing a beat.

"The Second Time Around" begins on tiptoe, gathering momentum as it unfolds. Nelson's ebullient solo is buoyed by Ray Drummond's insistence in finding just the right notes at or near the bottom range of the bass. Here, as on the rest of the session, Kirk Lightsey's quicksilver comping complements his trenchant solos. His blues-tinged offering on the chestnut "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" features some lower-register rumination that eventually engages the full range of the keyboard. "Easy to Love," Cole Porter's paean to the possibilities of romance, moves with an ease that recalls bygone eras. Nelson's solo builds to elegant peaks, as choruses begin with riffing figures that unfold with bell-like clarity. His last percussive chorus is struck with almost startling authority.

Nelson, the composer, is represented by "Kirk's New Delight," "Song for Justine" and "Original #2." The former has the air of a song one has heard before, but not quite, with the melody hung on a non-standard form. Lightsey's "Heaven Dance," set in part over a bass ostinato, is arguably the most modern in construction of the original material. Contemporary in its use of harmony, it moves rhythmically in and out of straight-ahead passages.

"Minor Blues," a riff-based twelve-bar theme by the late vibraphonist Lem Winchester, recalls the once-common practice of initiating blues excursions from catchy launching pads. Following Drummond's chorus, Lightsey once again begins in the lower register and works his way up the keyboard before Nelson takes over, using repeated notes to add heat and spark to his second chorus.

The legendary New Yorker critic Whitney Balliett called jazz the sound of surprise. Steve Nelson and his cohorts remind us that jazz is also the sound of joy. Fuller Nelson faces the present, honors the past, and makes a winning case for it all.

Track Listing

The Second Time Around; Kirk's New Delight; I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You; Song for Justine; Easy to Love; Heaven Dance; Minor Blues; For Wes; Original #2; Laila Blues

Personnel

Steve Nelson
vibraphone

Steve Nelson (vibraphone), Kirk Lightsey (piano), Ray Drummond (bass)

Album information

Title: Fuller Nelson | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Sunnyside 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.
View events near New York City
Jazz Near New York City
Events Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...

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.