Happy (From One Foot in the Swamp Review
John Ellis: One Pes in the Swamp
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Reedman John Ellis has distinguished himself in recent years as a sideman and collaborator in the renowned Charlie Hunter Trio. One Foot in the Swamp, released on the New York indie jazz label Hyena, marks his third every bit bandleader—though his two previous albums received only limited distribution, meaning that this may seem like a remarkably confident debut to some, as information technology did me. The album thrives on the vibrant, often surprising mix of astern-looking, forrard-thinking songwriting that listeners might have presaged from Ellis' work with Hunter, and perhaps even expected based on his earlier sessions as leader.
Opening numbers are typically stiff and tone-setting, but "Happy," our introduction to Ane Human foot in the Swamp, is something like the quintessential opener, a six-and-a-one-half-minute metaphor for the album every bit a whole. What sounds like an Atari video game sound effect gone haywire leaps up immediately and then dies out, leaving Ellis to breeze in with a contrasting shine and soulful tenor sax head. Drummer Jason Marsalis taps out a sassy beat on the tambourine, later introducing snare, high-chapeau, and even cowbell. Prior to his own space historic period-sounding solo, keyboardist Aaron Goldberg makes funky interjections on the Rhodes to underscore Ellis' leading groove besides every bit the lip-curled guitar solo by John Scofield. The track seamlessly brings together the folky bayou blues and big urban center progressiveness that are manifest throughout Ane Pes in the Swamp.
2 earlier efforts are revived hither. Ellis' cocky-penned charts from Charlie Hunter's Friends Seen and Unseen, which appeared last year, sideslip in near the middle of the disc: "Bonus Round," drawn out to twice its previous running time, and "One for the Kelpers." The former, featuring Gregoire Maret (another Hunter veteran) on chromatic harmonica, is propelled by a baritone vamp that runs like a effigy eight, most noticeable during the second one-half of the vocal every bit Goldberg squeals out his solo. Scofield appears once again on "1 for the Kelpers," balancing its mood of '60s beach party swing with bluesy rock.
Departing slightly from the straight-ahead jive of "Happy"—though notwithstanding a close cousin—is "Work in Progress," an abstract groove that flirts with post bop. "Seeing Mice" is a psychedelic head trip, a long group (augmented once once more past Maret and trumpeter Nicholas Payton) exploration that occasionally anchors itself in a more tuneful ballad. Its photonegative would exist the cursory "Land Girls," a lazy, sentimental number with barely any migrate away from its main melody. More playfully, "Michael Finnegan" begins with only scraps of a tune, transitioning to what might be fragments of "You Are My Sunshine," and finally closing by quoting from Brahms' famous lullaby.
If, as this disc claims and confirms, 1 of Ellis' feet is in the swamp, and then the other is firmly planted in cosmopolitan NYC, and he's straddling everything in between. But he hasn't done it entirely on his ain. A fine grouping of established performers, each given ample elbow room, help to turn this more prominent outing as leader into something both memorable and auspicious.
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Runway Listing
Happy; Work in Progress; Country Girls; Bonus Round; Seeing Mice; One for the Kelpers; Ostinato; Michael Finnegan; Chalmette Shawarma; Sippin
Personnel
John Ellis, tenor and soprano sax; bass clarinet; ocarina; Nicholas Payton, trumpet; Gregoir Maret, chromatic harmonica; John Scofield, guitar; Aaron Goldberg, keyboards; Jason Marsalis, drums; Roland Guerin, bass.
Album information
Title: I Human foot in the Swamp | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Hyena Records
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Source: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/one-foot-in-the-swamp-john-ellis-hyena-records-review-by-eric-j-iannelli
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