Brent Laidler: Wouldn't Be Here Without You

Stan Getz once said of the best bossa players that they could swing hard without appearing to try. It is also obvious that one of the few good things to come out of the Covid pandemic has been music intended to calm things down a bit. For example, John Pizzarelli's Better Days Ahead(Ghostlight Records, 2021), but there are others as well. If you take "swing" and "calm" and combine them, you end up with Brent Laidler's enjoyable and melliflous recording. You have a small group: trumpet, sax, organ, bass, drums and guitar , all doing Laidler's compositions. There are, for sure, far less productive uses of time than enjoying Laidler's talents.

There are three bossa-style compositions. "Pretty Little Bossa" is really a feature to showcase the mellow playing of Laidler, Mark Buselli, Jamie Newman and Ned Boyd. While it brings the recording to a close, it is really something of a bookend. The first track, "Keeping It Simple," is another relaxed bossa that features Laidler, Newman, and Buselli, who really plays, well, pretty. The melody is indeed simple and singable; if you are of a mind to sit in, then sit in. "You Ain't The Bossa Me" archly refers to the loose authority structure of many bands. Yes, sometimes, humor is the best response to an awkward situation in which everyone and no one is in control. And best to leave it that way for the evening. Ned Boyd here channels Richie Cole very effectively. "Sunday Mood" and "A Second Chance" are considerably funkier. Boyd handles handles the baritone sax on "Sunday Mood," a good change-up. On "A Second Chance," Richard "Sleepy" Floyd gets to play some NOLA street drums. The tune may be roughly based on Horace Silver's "The Preacher," from Horace Silver Quintet (Blue Note, 1955), but one keeps hearing "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen." "City By The Bay" feels next door to a chromatic blues. You get the genuine I-IV-V chord progression on "Foo's Blues. To round things off, there is a harmonically fetching waltz ("Walt's Waltz") and a very bright samba ("One More") with another nice Buselli trumpet solo. One small correction. "Wouldn't Be Here Without You" features drummer "Sleepy" Floyd and not trumpeter, Buselli, or so it seems.

Somewhere, perhaps on his web site, Laidler admits he has not quit his day job yet. For once, it is tempting to say, "go ahead; you will make a living."

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