Joe Syrian: Secret Message

A title like Secret Message does make a listener wonder what it might be. Is it deeply subversive, like the Zimmerman Telegram, or apocalyptic, like Fatima? Of course, as someone is reputed to have said, 'Sometimes, a cigar is just a smoke.' So it is possible to over-interpret a title, which may, in the final analysis, simply be a title.

Joe Syrian is a Detroit-based drummer, a city that can claim Brian Blade, J.C. Heard, Art Mardigan and others as part of an impressive roster of players, so Syrian has some serious history with which to contend. And the band itself boasts a number of instrumentalists, especially trombonist Doug Beavers, who plays plenty of lead, and whose solos are creative, tuneful and compelling. There is also Carl Maraghi, a saxophonist who also plays—and plays well—on virtually every track. Nick Marchione is a good trumpet player, although his solos sometimes become what old-school swing players called 'snakes'; lots of notes, but not much story. The repertoire is varied and runs the gamut from "Star Eyes" and "I Should Care" to John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. In general, this is a band worth hearing, even if it rarely breaks much new ground, other than to take a tune at an unaccustomed tempo, as in "I Should Care."

If there is any real difficulty, it comes out in the rhythm section. This is not to say that the band never swings, which is not true, but that it sometimes—all too often—does not. Those occasions detract from what should otherwise be a very good performance. Sometimes polyphony, as in "Bye Bye Blackbird," seems to defeat even the best performers. And if a band sounds stiff, well, that tends to overshadow most of its virtues. If there is any message to convey it is 'swing harder.' Have you ever heard anyone complain about a group that swings too much? Me neither.