Phil Haynes: Electricity Incarnate!

In the annals of jazz both short-term and long, the influence of drummer-led initiatives is immeasurable. There is Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, of course, plus Tony Williams' Lifetime and, in addition, numerous single-minded efforts like these two coincidental releases of Phil Haynes. Each is a largely freewheeling exercise in revisitation gestated during COVID lockdowns: Transition(s) is Haynes' reunion with one-time frequent jam partner guitarist Ben Monder, while Return To Electric constitutes a reprise of earlier excursions into vintage jazz-rock fusion. The title of the latter in itself is appropriate to the overall concept of these projects: in straightforward prose reflective of the music itself, the prolific drummer's essays inside the album sleeves explains how the intent of the these projects was to remind himself, his collaborators and listener of the value of the past as it pertains to the future.

Phil Haynes/Ben Monder
Transition(s)
Corner Store Jazz
2025

Having not played together for a quarter century, Haynes and Monder nevertheless spent a mere two hours or so rekindling the magic of their jam sessions of yore. Hardly surprisingly, the focal point of those occasions, saxophonist John Coltrane's "Transition," erupts in kinetic fashion near the mid-point of this fifty-minutes of otherwise trance-like spontaneous interaction(s). As an insertion of well-wrought pacing, the standard "I Fall In Love Too Easily" crops up near album's end, a refreshingly literal-minded digression that serves as gateway to more of the dream-like atmospherics such as "Ben I" and "Untitled" that prevail amidst the baker's dozen cuts. This pair of outside selections thus function not only as touchpoints accentuating the focus of this duo outing, but also as seeds planted for flowering during its companion piece, recorded later the same year of 2024.

Phil Haynes
Return to Electric
Corner Store Jazz
2025

On the fittingly titled Return to Electric, the trio of Haynes, guitarist Steve Salerno and bassist Drew Gress align themselves on a selection of thirteen tracks where compositions by guitarist John McLaughlin ("Spectrum," "Lotus On Irish Springs"), keyboardist Chick Corea ("Crystal Silence") and saxophonist Wayne Shorter ("Paraphernalia") alternate with originals from each of the players involved. During his no-nonsense notes inside this double-fold sleeve—a glossy finish mirroring (as on the other album) Jon Rosenberg's sparkling sound—the bandleader speaks of 'a beautiful and abstract modernism' and his description applies equally well to (both) these instrumental adventures he spearheads. A brisk and bracing succession of selections launches from less than two minutes devoted (appropriately) to George Russell's "Living Time:" therein the trio balances the visceral and the cerebral airs in dissecting, then and reassembling, among others, each of the principals' truncated "Cadenza" pieces.

Tracks and Personnel

Transition(s)

Tracks: Ben I; Untitled; Brief Piece; Untitled Ones; Transition; Ben II; Phills III; Openings; Beyond; Too Easily; Phills II; Ben III; Epilogue.

Personnel: Phil Haynes: drums; Ben Monder: guitar

Return To Electric

Tracks: Crystal Silence; Spectrum; Living Time; Spell; Cadenza Paul/ Christian; Cycle; Eclipse; Cadenza; Lotus On Irish Springs; Some Slick Sick; Cadenza; Paraphernalia

Personnel: Steve Salerno: guitar, Drew Gress: bass, Phil Haynes: drums.