In Common (Whirlwind Recordings)

In Common (Whirlwind Recordings)

In Common

Released October 19, 2018

DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review

YouTube:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lw6X1qTPaQeSefBZu-Jzg-IXEv1n3SVgM

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/album/20jmbmSiduGmNwNFJysOC6?si=6iddUEy3RN-s1uZ94cG6FQ

About:

The moment when spontaneity and technical expertise coalesce into a decidedly different soundscape is captured convincingly in this eponymous debut release from In Common. Behind that veiled moniker are the prominent names of tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III and guitarist Matthew Stevens – and together with vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Marcus Gilmore, they fashion striking improvisations from original compositional foundations.
“Walter and I had been talking about putting a recording session together” explains Stevens, “and decided to go into the studio with music that could be quickly interpreted with an interesting group of musicians and to let it unfold naturally from there.” The resulting sessions yielded an unaffected and dynamic recording by a group of peers sharing a mutual musical vocabulary. “Part of the basis for the project was to write relatively simple music,” says Smith. “The idea of simplicity downplayed individual ownership which was liberating.” The outcome is a collection of succinct, in-the-moment canvases that exhibit an engaging contemporary style.
Preceded by ‘freefive’, an improvised piece that captures the intangible moments that can arise between improvisers, Stevens’ ‘Unsung’ celebrates the overlooked in our society in a poignant song illuminated by Ross’s vibes. ‘YINZ’ – Pittsburgh’s version of ‘y’all’ – allows plenty of ducking and diving; and levitational ‘foreword’ centers around a rich duet between Smith and Ross.
The offbeat, almost Bachian ground of ‘ACE’ becomes filled out by Smith’s rich tenor, while ‘Baron’ is buoyed by syncopated drums and lush, animated guitar. Mysteriously striding ‘13th Floor’ contrasts with breezy ‘About 360’ and in tribute to the late Geri Allen, her ‘Unconditional Love’ is elegantly painted in new light.
The success of In Common’s informal collaboration is in creating a work that is unmistakeably alive and instinctive.

Track Listing:

1. Freefive 01:14

2. Unsung 05:40

3. Yinz 03:17

4. Ace 05:04

5. Foreword 04:04

6. Baron 02:14

7. 13th Floor 04:38

8. About 360 03:42

9. Unconditional Love 05:19

10. Ace (Reprise) 01:52

Personnel:

Walter Smith III: tenor saxophone
Matthew Stevens: guitar
Joel Ross: vibraphone
Harish Raghavan: double bass
Marcus Gilmore: drums

Recorded December, 2017, at the Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, NY
Engineered by Paul Antonell
Assistant Engineer: Heather Tobias
Mixing Engineer: Kyle Hoffmann
Produced by Walter Smith III and Matthew Stevens
Executive Producer: Michael Janisch

Review:

As a title, In Common perfectly captures the shared sensibility that goes into the music here. Assembled by guitarist Matthew Stevens and tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, this quintet—which also includes vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Marcus Gilmore—doesn’t represent a specific style so much as a general modernity, one that acknowledges the traditions of jazz, but is happy to move beyond them. An improvised duet between Stevens and Smith titled “freefive” introduces the album with the guitarist playing chords under a slow, symmetrical statement from Smith and followed by a flurry of saxophone 16ths that came to a halt when the guitar resolves a suspended chord. In other words, it conveys the shape and feel of traditional jazz while remaining harmonically untethered and melodically free—the best of both worlds, if you will. A similar eclecticism animates the rest of the album. “ACE,” for example, rolls along over a loop that sounds like a cross between wind chimes and toy piano; augmented by Raghavan and Gilmore’s deep funk, it seems to lean pop, until Smith and Ross enter with alternating, elegiac phrases that keep the tune firmly in the jazz camp. The pulse on “YINZ,” by contrast, is loose enough to pass for free time. But the interplay among the five players is so conversational that it feels like a groove anyway. “Baron” boasts a similar level of collectivity, but at a brisker tempo and working off a rhythmically gnarled head. In Common manages the great trick of being utterly singular, yet somehow hauntingly familiar. If only there were more of the album to fall into.

J.D. Considine (DownBeat)