Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Chad McCullough: Transverse

2

Chad McCullough: Transverse

By

View read count
Chad McCullough: Transverse
Chance encounters can be fortuitous and fruitful. Trumpeter Chad McCullough, on a visit to Macedonia to convene with family, found his way into a small cafe in Skopje, the capital of Independent North Macedonia, where he encountered a local trio: pianist Gordon Spasovski, bassist Kiril Tufekcievski and drummer Viktor Filipovski. McCullough had his horn with him. He was invited to sit in. A musical connection came about and eventually Transverse happened—the group's first "recording together on American soil" (a quote from the album's press material). From this wording we can guess they may have recorded an album on foreign soil—foreign to an American audience, that is.

An out-of-country influence is a fine way to freshen up American mainstream jazz. Art Farmer's To Sweden With Love (Atlantic, 1964) did it. Now, with Transverse, McCullough and company have done some of their own idiosyncratic freshening, bringing in an atmosphere of Macedonian folk music, beginning with "Lake Ohrid Lament," pianist Spasovski's arrangement of a traditional Macedonian song. It features alternating time signatures and McCullough's golden-toned flugelhorn playing over a dense rhythmic backdrop before settling into a placid and plaintive folk melody.

McCullough is adept at incorporating a European tinge to his music, from his long-term, several-album teaming with Belgian pianist Bram Weijters. This opening salvo with the Macedonia trio may be a harbinger of what is to come.

McCullough has a beautiful, fluid tone on his horns—flugelhorn and trumpet. His artistry has leaped forward since his relocation from the Northwest, from Seattle to Chicago, from Origin Records to his own Calligram Records. He tells labyrinthine stories as he weaves through diverse rhythms. And he has the gift of the ability to recognise talent—the Macedonian trio.

The McCullough-penned "A Forlorn Tale of Tomorrow." These thirteen and a half minutes of melancholy introspection are a highlight. It is a shifting, suite-like experience that showcases Spasovski's piano ruminations and McCullough's shaping of a sad yet beautiful mood. The core trio then shifts into a dirge mode before McCullough re-enters, blowing towering notes.

"Real And Unreal," written by McCullough, inspired by Hugo Award-winning sci-fi author Ursula K. Le Guin, has a dreamy beauty, an unhurried story portraying a forested alien landscape, wrapping things up with tranquility.

Track Listing

Lake Ohrid Lament; Falling Tide; Across the Deep; For Leni; The Forlorn Tale of Tomorrow; Manu Casas; Twist; Real and Unreal.

Personnel

Album information

Title: Transverse | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: Calligram Records

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

Good Hang
David Bode
Today Yesterday
Anton Mikhailov
Waking Dream
Randy Napoleon

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
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.