Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » John Menegon: Search Light

157

John Menegon: Search Light

By

View read count
John Menegon: Search Light
John Menegon's Search Light is not only witty, atmospheric, and thoroughly engaging from one end to the other, it argues against the frequent error of perceiving the role of the bass too narrowly. The bass is so often thought of as the engine room of jazz ensembles, providing the rhythmic pulse and harmonic core, that many people find it hard to think of it doing much else. On Search Light, John Menegon shows, without self-indulgence, that the bass can define the character of an ensemble as clearly and fully as any other instrument. The entire project has a sure-footedness, a quiet, elegant muscularity radiating from Mr. Menegon's own playing, immediately apparent and compelling.

This quiet, engaging setting is ideal for Menegon's harmonically adventurous, rhythmically textured original compositions, played here with innovative instrumentation, notably the voice, bass and flute trio that states the melody on the title track "Search Light" and the bass and saxophone treatment of the melody in "Last Chance," a clever, distinctive homage to bop.

Mr. Menegon is often introduced as "Dewey Redman's bassist," and although that’s certainly an association to be proud of, Search Light ought to start people thinking of Menegon in his own right, as the master bassist and composer that this recording demonstrates him to be. The band is made up entirely of accomplished players, the best known being, in fact, saxophonist Dewey Redman—who is, once again, brilliant, and wonderful. Contributions are made throughout by drummer Mark McLean, drummer and percussionist Tani Tabbal, guitarist Mark Dziuba, saxophonist and flautist John Gunther, and on two selections vocalist Teri Roiger.

.

Personnel

John Menegon
bass, acoustic

John Menegon: bass; Mark McLean: drums; Tani Tabbal: drums and percussion; Mark Dziuba: guitar; John Gunther: sax and flute; Dewey Redman: sax; Teri Roiger: vocals.

Album information

Title: Search Light | Year Released: 2003 | Record Label: Jazz in the Mountains

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.