Mike Clark: Standard Deviations

Bringing new life to jazz standards is a longtime tradition in jazz, whether it be on the bandstand or in the studio. With their latest Sunnyside recording, Standard Deviations, the iconic drummer Mike Clark and Los Angeles-based tenor saxophonist Michael Zilber venture there once again, following Mike Drop, their 2021 Sunnyside release. The result is a swinging session of jazz pearls in quartet mode, with pianist Joe Davis and bassist Alex Claffey joining in the fun.

Clark, for his part, seems to be pigeonholed into the fusion and funk categories of jazz drumming, even as he enters his mid-to-late-70s. It is an unfair characterization, though, considering his immense history in the music, and his marvelous sense of swing. This particular union with Zilber brings out the best in his playing in a complete sense, with Claffey's New York to Philly, hard-edged sense of swing stirring the pot. Let there be no fiber of doubt that even though Clark is a Sacramento native, and Zilber's roots are from Vancouver, B.C., and nurtured in California, that this recording is in New York's hard swinging tradition.

The opening two tracks set that Gotham mode in motion. "Beatrice" is a ballad that became a jazz standard by being a bridge between hard bop and free jazz. Zilber's saxophone sound has a fullness and sensitivity to it that compares to the soft but firm touch of lost love on the ballad, "I Get Along Without You." It is as if his arrangement is based on the lyrics to the tune derived from the poem written by Jane Brown Thompson, rather than the classic melody and harmony from Hoagy Carmichael.

"Mary's Cousin" is a flipped-up adaptation of the John Coltrane classic, a comfort zone for Zilber, as it is apparently for Davis. The pianist's comping is so notably swinging that it takes precedence over his solo, which may represent the Gotham vibe better than any other moment on the recording. Claffey's highly energetic playing is emblematic of his musical personality, as anyone familiar with his style can attest. Zilber's unhinged arrangement of the Wayne Shorter classic, "Footprints," encapsulates best what the saxophonist was aiming at with this collection of standards that have all been played through and recorded time and time again. He pulls apart the threads of the tune just enough to make it interesting, but not so much that the spacious composition gets lost.

There is an honesty to this collection of tunes that should be a quality of any session-style jazz recording. At times, Zilber's thrilling tenor sound that one receives during one of his live performances is ever so slightly diminished by the vagaries of the studio. It may not represent his best playing, or for that matter the best playing of his partner in Clark. When all is said and done, both these musicians have contributed massively to the world of jazz recordings, and tabbing a record as "the best of" their contributions would be pointless. Yet anytime these two lay it down, it deserves a listen.

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