Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Keystone Trio: Newklear Music: The Songs of Sonny Rollins

107

Keystone Trio: Newklear Music: The Songs of Sonny Rollins

By

View read count
Keystone Trio: Newklear Music: The Songs of Sonny Rollins
The title of the Keystone Trio's Newklear Music is deliciously pregnant with twin metaphors. The first is the play on Sonny Rollins' nickname "Newk" (a name he was ostensibly anointed with because of his resemblance to major league baseball pitcher Don Newcome). Rollins also represents a nuclear influence in Jazz. More compelling, however, is that this is a piano trio performance of Sonny Rollins compositions. The piano trio is the nucleus of the jazz ensemble, the proton, neutron, and electron, if you will. The piano trio can serve equally as the rhythm section of larger groups as well as a unit unto itself.

Newklear Music: The Songs of Sonny Rollins is a graceful and tastefully chosen journey through the Sonny Rollins Songbook. What struck me first about this collection was what compositions were not present. The only song I expected to be here was "Airegin," one of Rollins' earliest compositions. There is no "Doxy," "Oleo," "Sonnymoon for Two," "St. Thomas" or "Blue Seven." Instead, the Trio has thoughtfully taken a less traveled road of compositions that represent the whole of Mr. Rollins' elemental career.

Chronologically, the disc begins with "Airegin," originally recorded at the 1954 Miles Davis Bag's Groove session, and ends with the 1993 "Times Slimes" from Old Flames. Pianist Jon Hicks adds his own ballad, "Love Note for Sonny," as the closer.

The playing on this disc is impeccably light and tasteful. John Hicks plays with a rounder, more mainstream tone than he is most often known for. Bassist George Mraz has several stand out solos (most notably on "Wynton" and "Airegin"). Idris Muhammad, noted R&B drummer, plays the ballads with a feathery grace that is perfectly transparent without being lost in the performances. There is really not much "hot" playing on this disc. "Airegin," which has provided a barn-burning vehicle for many jazz musicians is taken at almost a walking, brisk ballad pace. "Tell Me You Love Me" has the tropical flavor of "St. Thomas" (get a load of the drum introduction and solo) without borrowing too heavily from that classic.

All trio performances are good, but some of them are better. This is as fine and well balanced a trio performance as the listener is likely to find. Highly recommended.

Track Listing

O.T.Y.O.G.; Times Slimes; Wynton; Here?s to the People; Tell Me You Love Me; Silk?s; Satin; Kids Know; Love Note for Sonny.

Personnel

John Hicks: Piano; George Mraz: Bass; Idris Muhammad: Drums.

Album information

Title: Newklear Music: The Songs of Sonny Rollins | Year Released: 1998 | Record Label: Fantasy Jazz

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

Hold On
Mark Winkler
The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle
Ben Thomas Tango Project
Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates

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.