Posi-Tone Records announces Something Blue, a stellar sextet of familiar artists and rising stars.
“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue…”
This familiar rhyme promises good luck for brides and marriages but the upcoming release from Posi-Tone Records proves that it’s a solid formula for crafting a scintillating jazz album. On Maximum Enjoyment, the debut album by the new all-star project Something Blue, label co-owner and producer Marc Free has pulled together all the elements from that Victorian-era verse to ensure a happy marriage of swinging rhythms, memorable melodies, smoking solos and raucous fun.
Something old: Maximum Enjoyment is anchored by a stellar rhythm section culled from some of the most familiar names in the Posi-Tone family. Pianist Art Hirahara, bassist Boris Kozlov, and drummer Rudy Royston are all label veterans who’ve contributed to dozens of releases as sidemen and/or leaders.
Something new: The sextet’s frontline includes three recent newcomers to the Posi-Tone fold: alto saxophonist Alexa Tarantino, tenor saxophonist Sam Dillon, and trombonist Nick Finzer tackling new pieces by Hirahara, Tarantino, Dillon andFinzer.
Something borrowed: Free reached back into the Posi-Tone catalogue to find material for this hand-picked ensemble, then asked the original composers to contribute new sextet arrangements. The repertoire features re-purposed favorites from Behn Gillece, Peter Brendler, Amanda Monaco, Jacám Manricks and Travis Sullivan – each a highlight of its respective album.
Something Blue: The blues are at the root of this music but in Free’s mind, the sounds harken back to the “blue period” of modern jazz in the mid-1960s when classic recordings folded the innovations of the modal and post-bop revolutions into a deeply swinging and profoundly enjoyable experience. This music was both accessible and creative – a challenging alchemy that Free strives for in every Posi-Tone release.
In the style of classic-era producers and record execs like Alfred Lion, Creed Taylor, and Bob Thiele, Marc Free has stepped into the role of producer-as-artist, forging a vision that results not only in thrilling music but in a singular identity for the label – something of a lost art at a time when technology allows for albums to be recorded in a bedroom or recommendations made by an algorithm.
“Despite the tremendous upsides of the DIY revolution that we’ve had not just in jazz but in the world,” Free says, “we’ve lost some of the gate-keeping and taste-making aspects that have made the industry successful. There was a day when a producer was not just an entrepreneur but also an auteur. He had an idea and then made things happen.”
With Maximum Enjoyment, Free builds upon the aesthetic ideals of the label’s 2018 release Straight Forward by New Faces, a sextet of emerging artists that Free which also assembled. Free explains, “Jazz doesn’t have to be conservative and boring to be Straight Forward,” Free insists, coining a term that he prefers to the overused ‘straightahead’ moniker .
Free makes his intentions clear, “We believe what Jazz really needs is new fans— so we’re specifically curating some of our projects to be more appealing to new appreciators of the genre. We want to help them develop the their ears and taste for for the genre and not just throw them into the deep end of the pool and expect them to swim.”
Free’s initial concept for Something Blue began with the instrumentation – alto, tenor and trombone combined with rhythm section, a combination partially inspired by Wayne Shorter’s classic Schizophrenia. The personnel were all gifted artists who Free thought might not cross paths without his intervention.
“I picked people who I thought were good collaborators and totally capable of playing whatever the situation called for. Sam, Alexa and Nick are all remarkably talented musicians in the process of finding their own voices, while Art, Rudy and Boris are consummate flexible professionals, guys I’ve worked with who can play any style of music and have become something of a house rhythm section for Posi-Tone.”
Maximum Enjoyment kicks off with the slow burn of Gillece’s “Slick” (which also opened Top Shelf, the vibraphonist’s 2009 co-led release with saxophonist Ken Fowser), prompting sinuously unfurling solo turns from both saxophonists and playful runs by Finzer. Kozlov’s burly tone provides the core for Monaco’s “Copper Tone” (from the collective 2010 outing Playdate), while Brendler’s “Stunts and Twists” – a lovely ballad from 2016’s Message in Motion, shines a spotlight on Hirahara’s lyrical pianism despite the action-packed title.
The pianist-composed and wistful “Aoi Blu,” highlighted by Finzer’s fluid, supple solo is followed by Tarantino’s ascent from breathy to bold. Royston’s lively pulse gives a shot of adrenaline to Gillece’s “Overcooked” (off of 2011’s DuoTone, also with Fowser), while Kozlov’s achingly gorgeous bowing is positively voice-like on Hirahara’s “Vast.” Tarantino contributes “Breeze,” an apt title for the song’s sunlit stroll, while Manricks’ “Cluster Funk” (from 2010’s Trigonometry) is self-explanatory, with the full sextet navigating the tricky angles and sudden swerves with grace and vigor.
Dillon’s “Shift” is a soaring mid-tempo anthem, while Finzer’s “Why Aren’t You Excited” surges and ebbs like the tide, washing in a Hirahara cascade and a solo by the composer that aims to question more than excite. Finally, the title track from Sullivan’s 2011 release New Directions ends the album on an infectious groove, more than celebratory enough to drive Something Blue’s enjoyment meter well past the max.
Alexa Tarantino - alto saxophone
Nick Finzer - trombone
Sam Dillon - tenor saxophone
Art Hirahara - piano
Boris Kozlov - bass
Rudy Royston - drums
1. Slick 5:36 (Behn Gillece)
2. Copper Tone 3:55 (Amanda Monaco)
3. Stunts And Twists 3:56 (Peter Brendler)
4. Aoi Blu 4:35 (Art Hirahara)
5. Overcooked 4:34 (Behn Gillece)
6. Vast 7:17 (Art Hirahara)
7. Breeze 5:11 (Alexa Tarantino)
8. Cluster Funk 3:46 (Jacám Manricks)
9. Shift 4:52 (Sam Dillon)
10. Why Aren’t You Excited 5:11 (Nick Finzer)
11. New Directions 5:15 (Travis Sullivan)
produced by Marc Free
photography Sara Pettinella
Something Blue "Maximum Enjoyment" is available from
Posi-Tone, Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and many fine retailers.
