Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Will Bernard 4-tet: Medicine Hat

210

Will Bernard 4-tet: Medicine Hat

By

View read count
Will Bernard 4-tet: Medicine Hat
On Medicine Hat, their first release, the Will Bernard 4-tet came to groove. The disc kicks off with "Close Shave (Pt. 1)," a James Brown inspired romp that introduces these fine San Francisco-based players. Will Bernard is a hot guitarist who was heard with T. J. Kirk, which included the now well-known Charlie Hunter and drummer Scott Amendola, also heard here laying down his rock solid rhythms with typical finesse. The 4-tet is rounded out with newcomers Rob Burger on Hammond B-3 organ and John Shifflett on bass.

The second track, "Boomtown", sounds like a spicy recipe for chasing away the mid-winter blues. The guitar / organ-fueled jams are inspired and fun. But this isn’t just about partying. The compositions, all by Bernard, are interesting as well as danceable. The twisted tango groove of "Trap Door Spider" is enticing and the 4-tet ventures into Bill Frisell-ish territory on "Nobody’s Looking". Bernard and Burger switch to acoustic guitar and accordion for this beautifully moody track.

"Tank Top" turns the tables again with a funky New Orleans groove, one of Scott Amendola’s specialties. Bernard lays down some smokin’ slide guitar on this cooker. "Pollyanna" features some wonderfully slippery guitar improvisations and they take us home with "Do Not Bend", a final funk excursion.

Recommended to fans of guitar, organ, and fat, funky grooves.

Track Listing

Close Shave; Boomtown; Medicine Hat; Prankster; 3-Ply; Koko a Poko; Trap Door Spider; Nobody

Personnel

Album information

Title: Medicine Hat | Year Released: 1998 | Record Label: PolyGram Records

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.