Graffiti (Savant Records)
JD Allen
Released June 8, 2015
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nylTl1v4lyzT1Guy_aGCgyjXd0s_kFNW0
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/6kPjgSpn8VWPYtk4dU8Uz8?si=r6EhIXoRTQWGOptwS-kSPA
About:
JD Allen’s career ascendence suggests that he’s making plenty of the right choices. The native of Detroit has been on the New York scene since 1993, when his youthful precociousness earned him a spot in “Jazz Ahead,” the singer Betty Carter’s acclaimed touring program for up-and-comers. TimeOut New York says he will “remind you of giants like Coltrane and Rollins but placing a special kind of premium on concision, directness and accessibility.” The Chicago Reader adds, “Allen has gravitated toward a more brooding, elliptical approach with a strong jolt of John Coltrane at his most probing.” Finally, JD is, in the words of Connecticut’s WNPR, “A man for all seasons,” who “plays ballads with warmth, beauty and truth, grooves hard in a post-bop mode or wails in a free jazz setting with passion saturated with the soulful spirituality, grace and inspired abandon recalling the power and the glory of John Coltrane.” One of the telltale symbols of his upward trajectory is the fact that his trio, bassist Gregg August (lead bass chair in the Brooklyn Philharmonic) and drummer Rudy Royston (a much sought-after rhythm power since relocating to New York from Denver), has remained solid throughout his rise.
Track Listing:
1. Naked (J.D. Allen) 04:02
2. Jawn Henry (J.D. Allen) 05:57
3. Third Eye (J.D. Allen) 07:44
4. Graffiti (J.D. Allen) 04:21
5. G-Dspeed, B. Morris (J.D. Allen) 04:11
6. Little Mack (J.D. Allen) 02:24
7. Sonny Boy (J.D. Allen) 06:08
8. Indigo (Blue Like) (J.D. Allen) 04:13
9. Disambiguation (J.D. Allen) 06:52
Personnel:
JD Allen: tenor saxophone
Gregg August: bass
Rudy Royston: drums
Recorded January 8, 2015, at Tedesco Studios, Paramus, NJ
Producer: JD Allen
Engineer: Tom Tedesco
Mastered by Katsuhiko Naito
Graphic Design: Christopher Drukker
Executive-Producer: Joe Fields
Review:
For more than 15 years, tenor saxophonist JD Allen has been an unassuming force on the New York jazz scene. His wonderful Savant release from last year, Bloom, particularly caught the ear of this reviewer, prompting a return to the stacks to revisit Allen’s repertoire, which consists of a raft of great CDs. Add to that discography Graffiti, a tough trio outing that smokes from start to finish.
Nine original pieces ranging from straightforward tunes to compositions with more complex organizational conceits, it shows the breadth of Allen’s scope with great panache. In the liner notes, he says of the song “Indigo (Blue Like),” “Sometimes I feel that the most avant garde thing that a jazz musician could do today is try to straight up and down swing.” With bassist Gregg August and drummer Rudy Royston, Allen is fearless in exploring that idea on several tracks, swingfully enjoying the intimacy of the trio setting on a slow, anthemic dedication, “G-dspeed, B. Morris,” written for the late cornetist-composer Butch Morris, and the Sonny Rollins-esque “Jawn Henry” and its companion piece, “Disambiguation” (same form, no theme). Sly rhythm modulations undergird the title track, and Allen opens up the time on “Third Eye,” his muscular melodicism an absolute treat, deep and searching without any stridency.
John Corbett (DownBeat)
