Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Harvie S: Funky Cha

270

Harvie S: Funky Cha

Harvie S: Funky Cha
Harvie S's inimitable, fearless and fun-filled approach to Latin jazz reaches a new pinnacle on Funky Cha. The bassist's musical sensibilities couldn't be summed up better than on the opening track, a re-visioning of Monk's "Rhythm-A-Ning. His bass and Daniel Kelly's piano pulse out Thelonian arhythmic fragments over Beaver Bausch's tappy drum groove, building in quirky intensity until we're jumping to find out where they're going with it. Jay Collins, the final piece of the puzzle, leaps in with the melody on tenor and reveals how nicely everything fits together.

This kind of hand-in-glove development has characterized Harvie's brand of jazz over the past several years, demonstrating why he's not only one of the best bassists in the land but also one heck of a small-group conceptualist. His Latin beats are definably Latin but consistently fresh; there are no generic mercado rhythms here.

Much of that, of course, is due to the company S keeps. Kelly slides smoothly between montuno and bebop; Bausch is a subtle drum master, and the added presence of Chembo and Ernie Colon pushes him ever higher; Collins is always tasteful and flexible. Only Kelly and tenor man Scott Robert Avidon, who guests on three tracks, are carryovers from S's last album, Texas Rumba, yet the full band sounds as if it has been together for years. This is a hallmark of musicianship, and one of many reasons why Funky Cha is impressive.

Harvie loves Monk as much as Latin sounds, and the influences meld well on tunes like "A Bright Moment, one of the more pensive tracks (until things really get rolling). He recorded the tune earlier for New Beginning but sharply reinvents it for this session. The perfectly named title track, Kelly's gorgeous interpretation of "What Is This Thing Called Love, and the tense modernity of "'S' reflect different facets of this taut ensemble's personality. They even succeed at the difficult fusion of jazz and the manic guaracha rhythm on Kelly's "Earquake. Outstanding, as expected.

Track Listing

Rhythm-a-ning; C7 Heaven; Mariposa en Mano; Earquake;

Personnel

Harvie S
bass, acoustic

Harvie S: acoustic bass; Daniel Kelly: piano; William

Album information

Title: Funky Cha | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: Zoho Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Harvie S Concerts


Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.