Fly (Savoy Jazz)
Fly
Released February 10, 2004
New York Times Best Jazz Albums of 2004
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kc-POoc4GEtiPkdwg6JO1GvkY2RRr_3Fc
Spotify:
About:
“The roots of Fly stretch as far back as the late ’70s, when Grenadier and Ballard first met as high school students in Northern California. Their musical kinship was solidified in college, and while they went separate ways upon reaching New York-Grenadier usually with the Brad Mehldau Trio, and Ballard most visibly with Chick Corea-the two musicians maintained a deep rapport. Turner, who also spent formative years in California, crossed paths with both of them, often sharing a bandstand with Ballard in the Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet. Ultimately, the three musicians took their first steps as a band under Ballard’s name, on Corea’s 2000 compilation album Originations (Stretch).”
Nate Chinen
Track Listing:
1. Child’s Play (Jeff Ballard) 07:14
2. Fly Mr. Freakjar (Mark Turner / Jeff Ballard / Larry Grenadier) 08:31
3. Stark (Mark Turner) 06:51
4. Jj (Larry Grenadier) 07:23
5. State of the Union (Larry Grenadier) 07:33
6. Emergence/Resurgence (Larry Grenadier) 04:38
7. Todas Las Cosas Se Van (Reid Anderson) 08:20
8. Piano Tune (Jeff Ballard) 02:56
9. Spanish Castle Magic (Jimi Hendrix) 05:45
10. Lone (Jeff Ballard) 04:34
Personnel:
Mark Turner: bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
Larry Grenadier: bass
Jeff Ballard: drums
Recorded June 16-18, 2003, at Sear Sound, New York City
Recording and Mixing: James Farber
Mastering: Greg Calbi
Larry Grenadier Producer
Photography, Scenery: Lourdes Delgado
Design: Scott Johnson
Art Direction: J.J. Stelmach
Executive Producer: Steve Backer
Review:
If your ears are starved for innovative jazz that blends punchy sax lines and dense, wild, worldbeat-flavored bass and drum rhythms, let this newly formed trio with an amazing pedigree fill the bill. Mark Turner was a sax star in the late ’90s who was looking for a new situation, which he stumbled upon while working on a Chick Corea project called Originations, which included old friends Larry Grenadier (bassist for Pat Metheny and Joshua Redman) and drummer Jeff Ballard (Corea, Redman, Danilo Perez). If the swinging bass and percussion patterns weren’t so tight and Turner’s sax wasn’t this melodic and precise, Fly might seem like it was three pals just having fun, as the exotic opening track, “Child’s Play,” might indicate. Essentially, the concept seems to be the trio listening and responding to each other in a frolicsome manner. On “Fly Mr. Freakjar,” Turner is more eloquent and restrained as his cohorts rumble happily around him, as if trying to get him to loosen up (he does after a few minutes). Other highlights include the funky jazz centerpiece “JJ,” on which Turner wraps his sometimes honking horn around increasingly dense percussion patterns and bass swirls. The disc slows down in the middle, favoring subtlety over insanity, but is happily rescued by the energetic “Todas las Cosas Se Van” and the funky, melodic, marching drum-driven Hendrix cover “Spanish Castle Magic.” Fly is definitely a cooperative by three major jazz talents, but by the end you’ll remember Ballard’s mostly in-your-face drum lines the most.
Jonathan Widran (AllMusic)
