Jason Roebke

Bradfield/Johnson/Tate/Jewell
Our Heroes
FAR Music No #

When it comes to creative music, Chicago has never really been the second city except to some Manhattan Jazz snobs. From the time of King Oliver to the AACM many notable innovators have lived in the city for longer or shorter periods. Now more than ever they’re determined to pursue their career from the Windy City. Two Chicago-based quartets confirm that improvisers are still thick on the ground there and that, despite a similar reeds-piano-bass-drums framework, each accomplished session make use of singular methods to realize their ideas.

While bassist Jason Roebke is the leader on Four Spheres, one of the reasons interpretations of his compositions is superlative is this is the first recording featuring Edward Wilkerson Jr since 2006. Guiding force behind the 8 Bold Souls, the veteran improviser plays tenor saxophone and clarinet here. Roebke, who often works with Jason Stein and Mike Read, and Wilkerson are joined by slightly younger players, pianist Mabel Kwan, also part of the Ensemble Dal Niente and other groups and drummer Marcus Evans, who has recorded with Nicole Mitchell.

More young veterans, the players on Our Heroes celebrate their influences with a series of dedications making for a more mainstream session. The same amount of skill is exhibited though from multi-reedist Geof Bradfield, who played with Darren Johnson and composed three of tunes; pianist Richard D. Johnson, who recorded with Greg Ward and composed four others; bassist John Tate, who backed Von Freeman and contributed two more; and drummer Samuel Jewell, who works with other local groups.

With Johnson often emphasizing Blues and gospel tropes on acoustic and electric piano and Bradfield switching among tenor and soprano saxophone and bass clarinet, often on the same track, the sound augmentation creates a mostly jubilant, swing-feel session that’s smart as well as social.

There are tracks which introduce subtle modulations, often projected by slippery electric piano comping and curlicue reed bites, and others which bulk up to increased intensity from all. More generic are those tunes which move through a variety of moods. The speedy “Caution” for instance with Jewell’s sizzing drum breaks, a walking bass solo, quick reed flutters and rolling keyboard pressure is pure Hardbop with quotes from “I Got Rhythm”, “Music Music” and other standards sneaking into the narrative. The following “High and Light”, dedicated to three legendary saxophonists, finds Bradfield beginning and ending with bass clarinet snarls, but using clarion soprano saxophone tones combined with Johnson’s rolling Blues-gospel patterns to isolate the slippery andante theme. Bass string thumps help propel those sonic elaborations.

Presenting multiple moods which jerk, jump, slither and sooth, the quartet proves itself with performances that are relaxed, restrained or raucous, without losing its way. Contemporary while preserving tradition, Our Heroes is an exemplary instance of one stream of Chicago Jazz.

Four Spheres offers another. Adding the whining clips and drones from metronomes, the quartet defines its parameters from the eponymously titled first track. Featuring Wilkerson pushing the exposition out further with thick bites and flattement, piano patterns soon turn to answering motifs as drum smacks and arco string swipes intensify the interchange. Equilibrium is maintained with drum rim shots and a concluding single piano note as the saxophonist spelunks from altissimo squeaks to guttural growls.

Wilkerson’s ability to emphasize foghorn-like vibrations, staccato multiphonics and pinched spetrofluctuation with equal facility doesn’t overshadow the others contributions however. One standout is the leader himself, who besides expected thumps and woody sprawls produces a banjo-lie twang on tunes like “Quarter Note Equals Eighty” and “Pulse and Tone”. On the latter, as rim shots and keyboard clips make up the background, he yo-yos between strained flanges and strummed bass strings moderating clarion reed bits to responsive doits and split tones. On “Quarter Note Equals Eighty”, also the longest track, there’s the antithetical strategy. An unbroken horizontal reed line, doubled by piano-exercise-like patterns from Kwan is shattered by pressurized thumps from the bassist. The subsequent disjoined sequence includes slashing piano chords, honking starts and stops from Wilkerson, cymbal clashes and rebounds from Evans and clawhammer flanges from Roebke. Finally settling into a groove restrained drum pops mark the finale.

Tandem and individual motifs including a capella interludes by each player and tonal variations from each of Wilkerson’s horns that express soothing moderation or jagged motion. These instances are answered by gentling key rolling or equivalent keyboard thumps from Kwan. Similar set ups with the other two players are also expressed.

Overall, Four Sphere is infused with the exploratory principals that have animated Chicago sounds since at least the mid-1960s. Yet it is also invested with the cadenced traits that the Bradfield/Johnson/Tate/Jewell quartet also employ. Taken singly or separately, both embody distinctive Windy City sounds.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Heroes: 1. Corea 2. Loved Ones 3. Some Other Sunday 4. Caution 5. High & Low 8. Blues For Stanley Cowell 7. Aspartame 8. Peaceful Giant 9. The Cruelest Month

Personnel: Heroes: Geof Bradfield (soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet); Richard D. Johnson (piano and electric piano); John Tate (bass) and Samuel Jewell (drums)

Track Listing: Four: 1. Four Spheres 2. Piano Spacer 3. Stability and Coda 4. Quarter Note Equals Eighty 5. Pulse and Tone 6. Presque 7. Starting and Stopping

Personnel: Four: Edward Wilkerson Jr. (tenor saxophone, alto clarinet and metronome); Mabel Kwan (piano and metronome); Jason Roebke (bass, cassettes and metronome) and Marcus Evans (drums and metronome)