Though comfortably laden with familiar pages from the Great American
Songbook, A Minor Scramble also shines in its musical variety. In
the middle of the well-handled "After You’ve Gone," guitarist
Mark Elf leads a sudden but
surprisingly fluid transition from a finger-flying set-up to a mellow,
swinging conclusion. Adding to the spice of the album is the inclusion of
such pieces as the salsad Samba "Tico Tico" and a trio of
original tracks.
The tempos are also well mixed (or should I say
"scrambled"?), with the
paced pulse of "Tico" being followed by the lazy (but not lazily
played)
lullaby "It Was Written In The Stars."
Despite a bit of a stiff and muddy start, Scramble soon begins
to flow steadily and smoothly. Though his solid strumming makes
"Too
Close" crisply comfortable and lends a sprucy focus to
"Concentrate,"
Elf’s clean picking also works well with his fellow Jazz-men and he lets
them all shine. Pianist Benny Green’s solo work on "Nobody Else
But Me"
is as jaunty, quick and clean as Elf’s. The leader's solid strokes make
trumpeter Nicholas Payton, bassist Dennis Irwin, and drummer Greg
Hutchinson’s varied work in "Rain or Shine" comfortable in any
weather
and establish Alexander’s lead in "The Niche" quite
comfortably. That Elf
only includes three of his own compositions in this collection further
demonstrates his willingness to be one of the band. Still, he is undeniably
an important one.
Mark Elf at All About Jazz.
Visit Mark Elf on the web.
Track listing: 1. Minor Scramble
2. After You've Gone
3. Tico-Tico
4. It Was Written in the Stars
5. Nobody Else But Me
6. Blues in Fat Tues.
7. Niche
8. Too Close for Comfort
9. Something to Live For
10. I Concentrate on You
11. Come Rain or Come Shine
12. Fine Romance
Style: Mainstream/Bop/Hard Bop/Cool
Published: January 20, 2003
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Though comfortably laden with familiar pages from the Great American
Songbook, A Minor Scramble also shines in its musical variety. In
the middle of the well-handled "After You’ve Gone," guitarist
Mark Elf leads a sudden but
surprisingly fluid transition from a finger-flying set-up to a mellow,
swinging conclusion. Adding to the spice of the album is the inclusion of
such pieces as the salsad Samba "Tico Tico" and a trio of
original tracks.
The tempos are also well mixed (or should I say
"scrambled"?), with the
paced pulse of "Tico" being followed by the lazy (but not lazily
played)
lullaby "It Was Written In The Stars."
