This is a fine album from a young musician who, at just twenty-six, has a promising career ahead, and I, for one, will be following his progress with interest.
Ghost Note Records GNR1023
Logan Kane (upright & electric basses, synthesizer, guitar, compositions); David Binney (alto saxophone); Mark Turner (tenor saxophone); John Escreet, Paul Cornish (piano); Benjamin Ring (drums); Jon Hatamiya (trombone)
A heady brew from bassist Logan Kane that refuses to take any prisoners. The music is hard-hitting, with driving rhythms that could overwhelm the senses, but Kane has the good sense to vary the program nicely to ensure the music is not one-dimensional and still lets everyone have their say.
This is Kane’s seventh album as a leader but the first fronting an acoustic jazz ensemble. The basic unit is a quartet with Mark Turner guesting on two numbers, and trombonist Jon Hatamiya making an appearance on “Labour Day For Machines.”
Piano duties are split between Cornish and Escreet with each playing on four titles apiece, and both bring considerable fire and passion to the music.
With eight compositions penned for the band alongside a couple of brief solo bass pieces and interludes, the music oozes confidence and attitude in equal measures.
No slouch as a composer, the bassist has studied with Vince Mendoza and learned the lessons well; Kane’s compositions are compact and lean, rhythmically concise yet flexible enough to let the soloists run with the music. There is much to enjoy.
“Labour Day For Machine” is one of those punchy and infectious themes that relies on little in the way of solos but packs a punch with the ensemble sound, while “Where Within” encourages David Binney to let his horn sing.
This he duly does with a pungent upper register for the theme before letting his solo evolve through multiphonics and a strong and vibrant tone that moves effortlessly through the registers.
The ballad is dealt with in a quite beautiful composition by Kane in “Spiders,” in which Binney’s alto weaves its way through the melody, and as he does so, his sound becomes ever more plangent.
As a bassist, Kane is articulate, economical, and plays double bass with a great tone; he translates these traits well to the electric instrument too. The two brief bass solos are, well, too brief. Well played with a solid and resonant tone, the music is quietly captivating and leaves one hankering for more.
As if to finish on a high note, the tracks that pair Binney and Mark Turner are left until near the end of the album. The alto and tenor saxophones make a wonderful ensemble on “Mountains,” and when piano and bass step in to lay down a groove for the piece, the two saxophonists immediately raise their game.
Turner solos first, and it is a beauty; his sound and sense of how to develop his solo are a masterclass in itself. Pianist Paul Cornish’s solo, by comparison, is a bleak affair, which is not to say that it is not still full of invention and builds the tension gloriously before the closing theme.
Alto and tenor are heard again on the following “Digit,” a through-composed miniature that, for all its brevity, is packed with smart ideas that would bear further investigation at a later date.
This is a fine album from a young musician who, at just twenty-six, has a promising career ahead, and I, for one, will be following his progress with interest.
