Chris Varga: Breathe

It is always refreshing to hear a talented vibraphonist seducing the mallets while leading a band, as is true on Breathe, Chris Varga's second recording, and the first in the U.S., following 2023's Vichara on South Korea's Mung Music label. Varga, who has been living and performing in Seoul for more than two decades, returned "home" to Chicago in 2024 and recruited four able-bodied sidemen to record eight of his largely hermetic yet lavishly bedecked compositions and arrangements.

This is basically chamber jazz, but not on the order of that produced by, for example, the Modern Jazz Quartet, wherein temperance and subtlety were the key ingredients. One point of departure involves the use of tenor saxophonist Geof Bradfield on four numbers, making the quartet a quintet; a second is employing guitarist Dave Miller to replace pianist John Lewis; a third is the comparatively smaller role played by Varga as compared to the MJQ's incomparable Milt Jackson whose melodious statements often set the compass and carried the day.

The largest difference, however, lies in the scope and caliber of the music itself. As a writer, Varga is able and earnest but his charts encompass nothing that approaches the astuteness or charm of the MJQ's—which is clearly an unfair comparison, as few groups have achieved that level of excellence. The point, however, is that Varga's music, no matter how heartfelt, is generally good but nowhere near the realm of moving or memorable. Although the ensemble does its best to brighten and enhance every number, the net result is a fabric that may be comfortable but is rarely more than that.

The group consists of Varga, Miller, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Neil Hemphill with Bradfield sitting in on "Darantula," "Breathe," "Framing the Dragon" and "TMI." It is a good group, performing, as noted, good music that some listeners may find bright and pleasurable, others somewhat less so. The stance here remains squarely midstream.