Wayne Peet Quartet: Live at Al's Bar (2005)

Jim Santella

Senior Contributor since 1997

Jim Santella has been contributing CD reviews, concert reviews and DVD reviews to AAJ since 1997. His work has also appeared in Southland Blues, The L.A. Jazz Scene, and Cadence Magazine.

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Published: October 10, 2005

Recorded several years ago at a live club date in Los Angeles, Wayne Peet's quartet boils over with a hot, steamy affair that brings you up and out of your seat within minutes. The crafty organist, best known for the creative improvised music that he's worked out with Vinny Golia, as well as numerous Southern California studio assignments, turned Al's Bar into a one-night stand of hail and rain. His musical partners, drummer Russell Bizzett and guitarists Nels Cline and G.E. Stinson, throb and swing while Peet lays down a rhythmic foundation and slides around the room with an array of quirky melodies.

Experimenting with myriad electronic effects, the quartet creates impressions of mystery and suspense. Their soulful groove gets your body reacting naturally, while their spontaneous explorations translate into meaningful dialogue.

Peet opens "Five Doors" with an eerie juncture, enters with a placid air, builds gradually to a fierce understanding, and closes with all cylinders firing at once. He takes "Five Swirls" through a suite-like set of impressions that provide moving landscapes. "Inner Funkdom" struts and stares with a cocky outlook as the quartet parades its feelings on the matter for all to see. Woven throughout the session is a thread of funk and down-home fun. Peet has soul, and his quartet has the freedom to turn it loose. Together, they have created a recommended album that's sure to appeal to a broad audience.

Track Listing: Five Swirls; Five Doors; Inner Funkdom.

Personnel: Wayne Peet: organ, organ bass; Russell Bizzett: drums; Nels Cline, G.E. Stinson: guitar.

Record Label: pfMentum
Style: Fusion/Progressive Rock