Nick Biello: New America

Upon listening to alto saxophone virtuoso Nick Biello, a quote attributed to Charles Mingus may come to mind: "If Charlie Parker was a gunslinger, there'd be a whole lot of dead copycats." "Slow down," you might say, "Biello is not Bird, not even close—nobody is." But the quote relates to Biello in that he is far from a Parker or Cannonball Adderley copycat, but he sure as heck is a gunslinger. Throughout New America, this becomes a known to the listener, as speed, precision and tonal purity combine to define the player, whether playing at breakneck speed or settling into the melody of a ballad.

While we are mired in comps, it should be stated that the New Haven-born Biello did study with the great Jackie McLean, and his playing bears some resemblance. He does not hit the blues notes quite as hard as the master, but his fluid runs and long-toned melodic phrases surround a melody and travel through harmonic structures freely within the form, very much like McLean. In a quintet setting for this session, Biello turns to trumpeter Charlie Porter on the front line, another musician with an orchestral sense to his playing and a perfect match for the altoist. Pianist George Colligan joins his former Portland mate in Porter, a true master of his instrument and a huge energizing plus over the course of the album's six offerings penned by Biello. Bassist Alex Tremblay, a longtime collaborator to Biello, and Austrian-born drummer Peter Kronreif tastefully complete the rhythm section.

Though Biello does offer a social narrative on the record, there is no added production to do so. The session is a straight-up quintet venture, performed in the moment as would a live set in any club you might name.

The opener, "Bel Canto," is an Italian-opera-inspired swing tune that immediately bears witness to Biello's soaring melodicism. Even when playing extremely fast, Biello's lines are melodically-inspired spontaneous compositions, with beauty having priority over overblown mechanical precision. Biello's sound always manages to sing in such a way as to present a story line at whatever pace it needs to. Tempo and other-worldly precision do not define his playing. His improvised lines can be more compositionally sound and interesting than the written melodies that precede them.

The collective spirit of the band is captured vividly on "Slightly Perilous," a high-speed bebop burner. The melody is complex and unwinding, spooling out to fluid, agile solos from Biello and Porter. Colligan is sparse in his harmonic support while comping, following suit with a downhill, twisting and turning solo that seems to collect the full extent of the tune's harmonic complexities.

"Before the Flood" and "A Long Way to You" are clearly written from a different place than the remainder of Biello's sturdy compositions. The former finds the altoist sharing space with Kronreif before moving forward through this very visual piece, with a variety of epic highs and lows that are both written and improvised. The overall vibe is very cinematic, with Colligan setting the brooding, journeying foundation for a solo section that features Porter's thematic, imaginative playing. The latter is the album's ballad, always the defining piece of a jazz record of any standing, both from a performance and compositional point of view. A clear departure from the rest of the session, the tune happily offers Biello's most memorable written melody. An emotive and lyrical piece, the ballad illuminates the saxophonist's romantic side as both a musician and composer, and clearly identifies the bold, full and warm resonance of Porter's trumpet in an intimate musical setting.

The title track is offered as a contemplative anthem in response to the current political and social divide in the United States, written through the lens of compassion and understanding (New America, liner notes). How social narratives come across on an instrumental jazz album, though, is not always obvious; understandings can be a result of the artist's suggestion or a nudge in that direction. What one can be very sure about is the quality of the musicianship and the soundness and attention to beauty contained within each of the six compositions on this, Biello's third offering as a leader.

Comments