It is difficult to listen to a bass clarinet in jazz without thinking about Eric Dolphy. If anything, the instrument has struggled to get out from underneath the shadow of Dolphy even more that the clarinet whose sound seemed to have been dominated by Benny Goodman for more than a generation. Over the weekend I have been listening to Jason Stein's new album where the line up of Tom Rainey, Josh Abrams and the leader is completed by tenor player Keefe Jackson wielding a contra-bass clarinet on four numbers. The results are interesting although I am not too sure about the contra-bass clarinet whose sound is not particularly beautiful.
Stein in somewhat unique insofar that he solely performs on the bass clarinet. The front line is shared with Keefe Jackson who shares a similar unpolished tone and probing method of improvisation to Warne Marsh. He is a musician I have admired over the last few years even if he is still a little under the radar. An earlier edition of this group produced an album with a lot of Monk material on as well as music that was associated with Lennie Tristano. The first record also featured the drummer Frank Rosaly, now ensconced in Holland but previously a mainstay of the contemporary Chicago scene and, for my money, a more responsive player than Rainey. Rainey is certainly more connected to the music than the drummers Tristano employed himself ( probably the most pointless role for a drummer in jazz history as the role for this instrument from frequently little more than acting like a metronome.) Quite how Frank Rosaly has remained so unappreciated by the broader jazz community is a mystery to me. This album runs further in to the Tristano territory with a version of "Wow" which must be a nightmare to negotiate on bass clarinet. Also included are Marsh's "Marshmellow" and "Angel." I cannot recall many other musicians outside of Tristano's immediate circle performing this repertoire and the whole album is odd insofar that it is at once nostalgic whilst still sounding quite out.
Listening to the disc, it is great to hear something that does not remotely sound like Eric Dolphy or eschews the more folk-orientated approaches of players like John Surman or Louis Sclavis.
Stein in somewhat unique insofar that he solely performs on the bass clarinet. The front line is shared with Keefe Jackson who shares a similar unpolished tone and probing method of improvisation to Warne Marsh. He is a musician I have admired over the last few years even if he is still a little under the radar. An earlier edition of this group produced an album with a lot of Monk material on as well as music that was associated with Lennie Tristano. The first record also featured the drummer Frank Rosaly, now ensconced in Holland but previously a mainstay of the contemporary Chicago scene and, for my money, a more responsive player than Rainey. Rainey is certainly more connected to the music than the drummers Tristano employed himself ( probably the most pointless role for a drummer in jazz history as the role for this instrument from frequently little more than acting like a metronome.) Quite how Frank Rosaly has remained so unappreciated by the broader jazz community is a mystery to me. This album runs further in to the Tristano territory with a version of "Wow" which must be a nightmare to negotiate on bass clarinet. Also included are Marsh's "Marshmellow" and "Angel." I cannot recall many other musicians outside of Tristano's immediate circle performing this repertoire and the whole album is odd insofar that it is at once nostalgic whilst still sounding quite out.
Listening to the disc, it is great to hear something that does not remotely sound like Eric Dolphy or eschews the more folk-orientated approaches of players like John Surman or Louis Sclavis.