Step Tempest Steps Out: Two to the Power of Three

Featuring Chris Potter

For this writer, the perfect antidote to a day of snow, ice, and chilly temperatures is time spent listening to Trio music; specifically a trio made up of saxophone, bass, and drums (save the piano trios for nighttime and walks in the Spring). Here are two new releases––both featuring saxophonist Chris Potter (not as the leader)––that will raise the temperature while raising one’s spirits!

If you don’t know bassist John Pattitucci by now, you’ve been asleep for over three decades. He’s worked as a solo artist plus spent numerous years in bands led by Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and most notably, with pianist Danilo Perez and drummer Brian Blade in Wayne Shorter’s Quartet for the final two decades of the great saxophonist and composer’s career. The bassist is featured on a slew of albums from artists such as Al DiMeola, Michael Brecker, Roy Haynes, Gary Burton, and others.

For his new album, “Spirit Fall” (Edition Records), Patitucci is in the company of Blade and Chris Potter (soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet). The Trio had worked together on a European tour in 2022 resulting in the delightful “Live in Italy” released on the bassist’s Three Faces label. The new collection, recorded in The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, NY, in August of 2024 , features 10 tracks all composed by the leader with the exception of Mr. Shorter’s “House of Jade” (first recorded on 1965’s “Juju” Lp). Since these three musicians are friends and long-time colleagues, they are free to push each other––thanks to that curioisity to move beyond the tried-and-true, there is not a weak track on the program. The opening “Pole Star” leaps out of the gate, fired by the high-powered bass lines and Blade’s active drum “dance”. Patitucci’s bass solo covers a wide swath of territory and is both percussive and highly melodic. Potter’s tenor sax is spurred by the fire from down below.

Patitucci, who is also an excellent electric bassist, shines on that instrument on several pieces in the middle of the program. The title track opens with the leader stating a simple melody and opens to a lovely soprano sax statement––one hears the active Blade underneath and realizes this track will not sit still. Patitucci takes the first solo, a richly melodic statement played low on the neck but with a deep pedal point. Potter then steps out pushed forward by the powerful drumming. That track is followed by the funky “Lipi M” with the bass and drums locking into a funky beat while Potter’s overdubbed tenor sax plays a melody one might hear from a New Orleans ensemble. Potter rides atop the rhythm section with a solo that mines R’n’B, 1960s Blue Note, and much more. You could easily play this track three times in a row to concentrate on each player and how they work in the ensemble. The next track, “Silent Prayer”, opens with a lovely melody played by tenor sax and bass––note the harmonics from the bassist which also permeate his short but sweet solo. Blade enters laying down a bluesy beat, Potter taking off into another fine solo.

Patitucci is back on acoustic bass for the album closer, “Sonrisa”. The bass line and dancing drums have the feel of the late Arthur Blythe’s “Down San Diego Way” but the piece moves a bit “outside” during the blazing tenor sax solo but the trio always falls back to the rhythmic dance. There’s a splendid “give-and-take” between the bass and drums (through much of the program, Blade plays with such joy and abandon).

“Spirit Fall” should actually raise your spirits! John Patitucci, Chris Potter, and Brian Blade move through this music with exuberance and, when called for, reflection. The sound is great, the majority of the compositions are impressive, and the results delightful. Go to www.johnpatitucci.com for more information.

That’s Chris Potter on the left of the above photo. In the middle is drummer Carl Allen and bassist Christian McBride is on the right. The picture was taken on January 13, 2024 in Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, the day when the three musicians recorded the 12 tracks that makes up Allen’s new album, “Tippin’” (Cellar Music). They laid down the tracks in five hours (!) without any rehearsal. And, it’s the drummer first album as a leader in over two decades! Best of all, it’s a delight from start to finish!

Carl Allen, a native of Milwaukee, WI, is a veteran like John Patitucci. His discography is chock-full, starting from his early years as music director for Freddie Hubbard then going on to tour with so many artists. That list includes Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Benny Golson, Jennifer Holliday, J.J. Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones, Sammy Davis Jr., Branford Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, Lena Horne, Ruth Brown, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Bobby Hutcherson, and so many more. Plus, Allen has recorded with Jackie McLean, Donald Harrison, Art Farmer, Christian McBride, Renee Rosnes, and others. As a leader, he’s recorded albums for several labels including Timeless, Evidence, Atlantic Records, and Mack Avenue Records––his last two jazz albums were with groups co-led by bassist Rodney Whitaker (talk about a dynamic rhythm section).

Thanks to Maureen Sickler’s excellent engineering, the listener is right in the middle of ther Trio on “Tippin’”. The program with a “down and dirty” take of “Parker’s Mood”, Potter’s tenor sax leading the way as he digs into the powerful walking bass lines and the sweet cymbal work. Up next is Mr. Hubbard’s “Happy Times”––listen below to this tour-de-force as the trio leaps right into the song with the breakneck pace no issue for Potter’s sweet and sassy tenor sax playing. The drive that McBride and Allen create is ebullience personified.

Potter moves to bass clarinet for the leader’s “Hidden Agenda”. The music, like the opening track, has a rich vein of the blues couring through the performance. The way the drummer interacts with Potter’s solo while the bassist holds the bottom gives the music wings in the middle as the bass clarinet rises up into its higher register. Allen’s “conversational” solo is a treat and leads back into a restatement of the opening theme.

Potter’s soprano sax leads the rhythm section into a powerful take of “The Inchworm”, the Frank Loesser song that the John Coltrane Quartet gave a modal treatment to in 1962. The Coltrane influence is felt throughout but do take note of Potter’s excellent solo as well as the brilliance of the rhythm section.

There’s a touch of that “modal” feeling on the drummer’s tribute to the late Roy Hargrove, “Roy’s Joy”. There’s also a great deal of swinging going on, from McBride’s delightful walking bass lines to Allen’s loping shuffle beat/ splashing cymbals to Potter’s excellent tenor solo. McBride takes a solo here as well. The powerful melodic thrust is a perfect lead-in to the drummer’s powerful solo.

The album closes with a pleasing performance of the standard “Put On A Happy Face“. McBride solos first and it’s quite a melodic treat. Potter follows on tenor sax, following the bassist’s example, feeling his dancing solo filled with melodies. Allen steps out on his own by finishing Potter’s melodic intros. Back to the melody, then a gentle close and we all walk away satisfied.

“Tippin’” is Carl Allen’s decidedly triumphant return to being a leader. He wisely gives Christian McBride, a long-time musical partner, and Chris Potter plenty of room to be themselves. Together they create music that makes the listener glad to be alive! can’t ask for more than that!

For more information, go to https://carlallen.com/.