Vicente Archer: Short Stories

Bassist Vicente Archer may be a Grammy winner with a long grand vintage (Nicholas Payton, John Scofield, Kenny Garrett, Norah Jones) but he has not revealed his own particular harvest as he does on the amicable and resilient Short Stories. Accompanied on what is technically his debut, fellow Scofield and Payton alum, drummer Bill Stewart and ever curious pianist Gerald Clayton bring to these stories a captivating, unified narrative.

The soft, insistent tannins of "Mirai" opens Short Stories with expressive ease as Archer plucks into the rhythm and Clayton's dual duties on piano and electric piano add an atmospheric air and finish. As if to throw everything into a tizzy, Clayton's abstract "Round Comes Round" follows, but Stewart and Archer quickly bring a sense of shape to the proceedings. It is a nice turn around in the action that leads into Stewart's solid "Space Acres" where the drummer sets the pace and his mates meet his muse head on. The brief "Lighthouse," centered by Clayton's single note persistence, allows plenty of improvisatory room for Archer.

Producer Jeremy Pelt's "13/14" springs into action with each player taking the lead then laying out for the other to do so. First heard on Pat Metheny's initial duet album with Charlie Haden, (Beyond the Missouri Sky (Verve, 1997), Metheny's aching "Message To A Friend" highlights a moody lucidity while Archer's lazy loping blues "Bye Nashville" quickly becomes one of those tunes one hopes does not end any time soon. Archer and Stewart take on two takes of Payton's cool jamming "It Takes Two To Know One," making Short Stories a rather compelling listen.

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