Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Travis Sullivan: New Directions

189

Travis Sullivan: New Directions

By

View read count
Travis Sullivan: New Directions
Saxophonist Travis Sullivan has received lots of coverage for the music he creates with his Björkestra, but the success of that band is a double-edged sword. While following the musical pathways set forth by his Icelandic muse has helped the saxophonist expand his audience, it also temporarily suppressed his own musical personality. With New Directions, Sullivan steps out of the shadow of Björk and back into the light of his own creations.

For this ten-song program, Sullivan supplies eight originals that showcase his gleaming tone and melodic sensibilities, while also testifying to his varied musical interests. He paints bright melodies against the contrast of dark bass lines ("Jamia's Dance") and powers through funky, odd-metered workouts with ease ("Hidden Agenda"), but he also shows comfort soloing over rhythmic terrain that shifts from aggressive, driving swing to Latin-leaning grooves ("Tuneology"). While the majority of Sullivan's pieces are grounded by a firm sense of rhythm, "Autumn In N.H" is a notable exception. This piece opens with Mike Eckroth's wistful piano work, but the band eventually arrives in a gauzy musical atmosphere that allows for some interesting interplay and dynamic development.

While Sullivan only tackles two covers, his choices reflect the eclecticism found within his own work. He performs "Spring Is Here"—written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart—and fills it with noir-ish notions. The rhythm section provides some appropriately malleable accompaniment and Sullivan caps off the performance with a confident cadenza. A standard of a different sort, a popular '80s pop confection in this case, is reworked to suit Sullivan's own vision. On "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," bassist Marco Panascia's frisky bass work provides direction early on, but Sullivan's soloing eventually becomes the focal point. While drummer Brian Fishler powers the quartet through various styles of music, his solo star turn is saved for the final number. The title track finds Fishler soloing over a funky vamp and dissecting the time like a skilled surgeon with sticks, helping to end this enjoyable album on an energetic note.

Track Listing

Jamia's Dance; Autumn In N.H.; Tuneology; Hidden Agenda; Spring Is Here; Georgie; Everybody Wants To Rule The World; Leap Of Faith; Magic Monday; New Directions.

Personnel

Travis Sullivan
saxophone, alto

Travis Sullivan: alto saxophone; Mike Eckroth: piano; Marco Panascia: bass; Brian Fishler: drums.

Album information

Title: New Directions | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Posi-Tone 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.