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Joe Sullivan: Whisky Jack Waltz
ByWhiskey Jack Waltz, is a collection of nine originals penned by Sullivan and features a quintet of guitarist Lorne Lofsky, André White on piano, Alec Walkington on bass and Dave Laing on drums. The projects title refers to a playful species of bird that inhabits the forests of Sullivan's native Northern Ontario. The music throughout the project is fresh and accessible while still staying firmly rooted in the jazz tradition of lyricism and hard swing.
"Khivan Adventure" begins the set with a nice medium-tempo waltz, Sullivan states the melody with a muted trumpet over an excellent feel from the Walkington and Laing rhythm section, Lofsky's creative guitar voicings are full and supportive. Lofsky takes the first solo; his warm toned guitar builds in intensity, register and activity while still maintaining a cohesive melodic flow all the way through. Laing's creative drum set commentary seems to inspire Lofsky's rhythmic choices as his inventive solo yields to Sullivan's muted trumpet. White seamlessly passes the comping role to Lofsky for Sullivan's solo, which starts by developing a melodic fragment through the changes. Sullivan continues developing each phrase to a climax and then resolving the melodic statement with a strong cadence. Sullivan and Lofsky's interaction might remind one of the great team of Ed Bickert and Paul Desmond, but spoken with today's modern jazz language. White takes the musical helm with a fine piano solo, thoughtful melody and rhythmic figures continue in the same colors and style that Lofsky and Sullivan created, giving a very cohesive flow to the tune. The melody is restated and then brought to a logical ending with Lofsky soloing over a vamp to the end.
The creativity continues with the angular melody of "Get Lost" set to a medium-up swing tempo. Sullivan's solo is full of fire over the well-placed chords from Lofsky. Sullivan reaches deep into his chromatic bag for this one! Twist and turns to various chord tones with an excellent control of rhythms and the chromatic language of jazz. White again picks up where Sullivan left off and continues the flow and joyfulness that was clearly established by Sullivan's musical statement. White builds to an excellent section of left hand melodies and chords against streams of sixteens in his left hand building to a clear cadential figure and handoff to Lofsky's warm guitar. Lofsky's rhythm is spot on and in the pocket as his eights exude swing; each phrase has shape and forward motion, with ample use of quotes. Laing's drum solo keeps things moving with a fiery snare center statement that takes us back to the angular melody stated by all for the first A section. Excellent writing and a playing, all is done as it should be resulting in a very enjoyable musical listen. The success of Whiskey Jack Waltz is certainly Sullivan's exceptional compositions, well-formed melodic melodies through creative chord changes and interesting forms. However, Sullivan has also done an excellent job of putting a group of musicians together that is of the highest caliber and speaks the same musical language and above all, listens to one another. These key elements give Whiskey Jack Waltz a very enjoyable listen from the first to last note, well worth the time!
Track Listing
Khivan Adventure; Lonely Roads; Get Lost; A Lullaby; Le Bash; Stealth; Whiskey Jack Waltz; The Gloves Are Off!; The Good Doctor.
Personnel
Joe Sullivan
trumpetJoe Sullivan: trumpet/flugelhorn; Lorne Lofsky: guitar; André White: piano; Alec Walkington: bass; Dave Laing: drums.
Album information
Title: Whisky Jack Waltz | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Self Produced
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