Mike Lorenz: I'm Not There

Following a period of change, upheaval and reflection in his personal life, Mike Lorenz says that this record demonstrates a new approach for him, reflecting both his roots in jazz and the fact that he has been listening to a lot of songwriters; writers such as Jeff Tweedy and Elliott Smith.

The opening track "Where Do You Go?" certainly shows songwriterly dexterity in combining different harmonic and melodic ideas into a congruent whole. The trio setting is pure jazz, but the use of a flat top guitar lends a more songwriterly feel to create a piece of jazz-adjacent acoustic music that would not be out of place on Bill Frisell's Good Dog, Happy Man; (Nonesuch Records, 1999).

The electric guitar that opens "Never Seen" nails the songwriter/improviser thing, but very much as songwriter influenced jazz rather than the other way round. The riff is pure Americana, and the track quickly moves on to some great improvisation which is at times reminiscent, in tone and approach, of Julian Lage.

There is a comfortable, rootsy groove here which works excellently on many tracks. "One Can Hope," for instance, lopes along in a way that belies the clever harmonic structure. It feels as if they could play this stuff forever, in the hazy golden glow of an endless afternoon.

Standout tracks are "I Don't Have Time To Love You," displaying maybe the best guitar work on the record, and "We Used To Talk All The Time" which shows off the understanding between the trio as they plough a long, groovy furrow. Lorenze blends single note lines with rapid chords over a solid base laid down by Sandy Eldred on bass, who takes a rare solo here, and Matt Scarano on drums. "Renovated Heart" opens with a great riff which the band do a good job with, achieving a greater level of freedom and energy than anywhere else on the record.

Despite being a record which by Lorenz's own admission carries a lot of emotional baggage, this is never maudlin or self-pitying. Instead, Lorenz has created a record full of catchy Americana-tinged jazz which calls to the head, the heart and the feet.