Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mike Wofford Trio: Live At Athenaeum Jazz

172

Mike Wofford Trio: Live At Athenaeum Jazz

By

View read count
Mike Wofford Trio: Live At Athenaeum Jazz
Mike Wofford played for fifteen years at the Athenaeum jazz concert series in San Diego, right from its initiation in 1989. Came the time to release its first recording and the spotlight, appropriately enough, shone on Wofford. He set his sights on New York and beckoned Peter Washington and Victor Lewis to join him.

The trio setting offers a snug home for jazz and if the musicians have empathy, they can raise a song to a high level through communication and artistry. These three work beautifully together and, in doing so, structure each song with a sense of adventure and musicality. The standards are injected with a shot of new blood and even Sting, who once aspired to play jazz, has one of his songs "It's Probably Me" turned into an inspiring listening experience. Lewis sets it up with an energetic and rhythmically adventurous drum solo, the tone taken in another direction by Wofford, who gets the melody to sing luminously as he crafts the transformation of pop into jazz with authority. Lewis contributed "Dex-Mex," on which he twirls a sprightly rhythm, Wofford sneaking into the spaces and then engaging in dialogue with Lewis. This one is all the more fun as the trio rides it out meshed in a romping groove.

Wofford's ideas swell and fall in a neat pattern. Excess? The word is not in his vocabulary. One could see that on any of the tracks, but the medley offers probably the best vantage point. He goes solo on "Lucky To Be Me," delineating the tune with sensitivity, a gentle emergence that basks in the warmth of his ministrations, and then up jumps "I'm Just A Lucky So And So," sparkling and irresistible, the leader and his men seeped in a radiant vitality.

Listen. Have fun.

Track Listing

My Old Flame; Take The Coltrane; Macedonia; Dex-Mex; Medley: Lucky To Be Me/ I'm Just A Lucky So And So; It's Probably Me; The Best Thing For You.

Personnel

Mike Wofford: piano; Peter Washington: bass; Victor Lewis: drums.

Album information

Title: Live At Athenaeum Jazz | Year Released: 2004

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




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

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

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.