Michael Dease: Flow

Michael Dease is always on the go. A flurry of activity seems to surround the prolific trombonist, composer, bandleader, sideman, educator, and doubler. Yet he's always operating in the moment, never distracted by all of the spinning plates. Dease absolutely personifies the flow state, fully immersing himself in every one of his pursuits. This, his 11th album for the Posi-Tone imprint and 18th in all since his 2005 debut, demonstrates that fact as well as anything. Mixing it up with established veterans and bright new voices, Dease highlights the importance of the jazz continuum while demonstrating what playing and living in the zone is all about.

The connections between the leader and each of his bandmates in the Flow quintet are different and notable. Pianist Geoffrey Keezer looked out for Dease during a six- year stretch when both worked with saxophone icon David Sanborn. Multi-reedist Sharel Cassity is one of the trombonist's most frequent collaborators—a peer and a longtime friend. Dease mentored bassist Jared Beckstead-Craan, an up-and-comer raised in Africa and Canada, during his studies at Michigan State University. And Greek drummer Gary Kerkezou was recommended to the leader by the great sticksmith Billy Kilson. Individually, each of these musicians takes care of business. But together, with Dease at the helm, they quilt a tapestry across time, highlighting this slide ace's own path(s) and the beauty in intergenerational and cross-cultural collaboration.

Opening on "ST in The House," Dease nods to his teacher, trombone heavyweight Steve Turre, with a Jazz Messengers-worthy, hard bop happening. Duke Pearson's bright "New Girl," pairing Cassity's flute with the leader's slide out front, makes for a joyous jaunt. Dease's straight-time strut, "Grand Seiko," honoring the Seiko Summer Jazz Camp, which the trombonist has been leading for the past decade, hits in all the right ways and features an absolutely dazzling solo from Keezer.

Switching gears with some rarely-heard Bird, the band plays it loose and free on the intro to "Cardboard," a hip, swinging contrafact on Henry Nemo's "Don't Take Your Love From Me." Japanese saxophonist March Suzuki's sly and soulful "Financier" puts Cassity's alto in perfect light. And "The Rodfather"—a tribute to bassist Rodney Whitaker, with Dease doubling as melodist/soloist on bass and Kerkezou briefly stepping out with brushes in hand—stands tall at album's center.

The back of the program proves no less pleasing, opening on the late trumpeter (and onetime Dease employer) Claudio Roditi's effervescing "Recife's Blues" before closing with a mixture of originals in the final four slots. Dease's "Not the Norm," given in memory of comedy great Norm MacDonald, comes first in that batch, offering a complex emotional fabric in its unfolding. Cassity's "Love's Lament" plays as pathos and beauty rolled into one, with the leader in masterful form and Keezer keying in on him. "Entitlement," Dease's patiently paced exploration of a growing ailment across society, leans into the subject in avoiding resolution. And Keezer's "Haru No Kaze"—presenting another smart pairing of trombone and flute in the frontline—captivates with bop-based flair among other flavors. Dease notes that the "recording process had the warmth of a Thanksgiving dinner, or an overdue family reunion," and that feeling comes through clearly in this music. Flow is community and continuity in action.

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