Matt Jorgensen +451: The Road Begins Here

Ben Ohmart

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Published: September 1, 2001

Beautiful cd. 7 tracks and 54 minutes of smooth jazz, from adapted classics to noteworthy originals.

Matt Jorgensen, Rob Davis, Phil Sparks, Marc Seales: these are the champions of a combo so tight, you'd swear you hear more in these instrumental songs than just these few people. The swinging nightlife sound of 'Afterglow,' busy with Davis sax and Jorgensen drums, is somethin' else. Burns like lamplight oil on a street far in the past; warms; glows.

What wasn't penned from this set of talented NYC jazzsters, uses, you'll see, some first-rate writing forte. But what will Send you is the performance of the 451 as a whole.

Churning from excited to rushing to smooth to something a grade below smooth (no, not somber-filled new age), every arena of jazz, barring big band, is joyfully reconstructed within this taut unit. The track lengths are deep and meaty enough to immerse yourself in fully.

Listen, several times, to the subtly of 'Central Park West' and find something different within each time. Try it first regular; then with the bass boost; then on speakers; then on headphones. See if you aren't given the gift of solid, well-rounded, bred-for-midnight mainstream jazz in several alternate doses.

Bottom line: get it.

Track Listing: From Nowhere to Here (Jorgensen), No Quarter (Plant, Page, Jones), Afterglow (R. Davis), Gingerbread Boy (J. Heath), Central Park West (J. Coltrane), For Tony (Jorgensen), Teo (M. Davis)

Personnel: Matt Jorgensen - drums, Rob Davis - sax, Phil Sparks - bass, Marc Seales - fender rhodes

Style: Straight-ahead/Mainstream