Groove Street (Strikezone Records)
The Dave Stryker Trio with Bob Mintzer
Released January 1, 2024
AllMusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2024
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About:
In the summer of 2023, the Dave Stryker Trio joined forces with tenor saxophone legend Bob Mintzer to record an album of new music prior to playing a week at Birdland in NYC. Stryker and Mintzer had been friends for many years and Bob arranged and conducted an album of Dave’s music for the album Blue Soul with the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany. Although Bob had guested with the trio on a few tours, they had never played THIS music together before arriving at the studio. The magic and energy that was captured speaks to the beauty of jazz and the height of communication among first-class players exploring new music for the first time. Subsequently, most of the songs were captured in one take.
From the classic organ shuffle of Dave’s title track to Mintzer originals: “Overlap” and “Straight Ahead,” Stryker’s burner “Summit,” “Code Blue” and Gold’s “Soulstice,” the swinging standard “The More I See You,” the groove of Eddie Harris’ classic “Cold Duck Time,” and a tribute to the great Wayne Shorter with a fresh take on “Infant Eyes”… Stryker and company are definitely exploring new avenues on Groove Street.
Track Listing:
1. Groove Street 05:14
2. Overlap 06:15
3. Summit 06:27
4. Infant Eyes 07:26
5. Soulstice 05:41
6. Cold Duck Time 05:00
7. Code Blue 05:43
8. The More I See You 06:40
9. Straight Ahead 05:28
Personnel:
Dave Stryker: guitar
Bob Mintzer: tenor sax
Jared Gold: organ
McClenty Hunter: drums
Recorded July 2, 2023, at Trading 8s Studio, Paramus NJ
Produced by Dave Stryker
Engineered, Mixed and Mastered by Chris Sulit
Review:
Groove Street marks the first time guitarist Dave Stryker’s trio and saxophonist Bob Mintzer have recorded together. They’ve toured together some and collaborated on 2020’s wonderful Blue Soul, where Mintzer arranged and conducted the WDR Big Band. Given touring commitments, this quartet had to record the day before beginning a week-long stand at Birdland. Stryker’s trio with organist Jared Gold and drummer McClenty Hunter has been together for 15 years. They are canny in their shared ability to predict and respond to one another. Mintzer — a lightning-quick study for decades — has a deep familiarity with Stryker’s music and has toured with him. The program here contains three tunes by the guitarist, a pair from Mintzer, one from Gold, and three covers. The mood is upbeat, the grooves breezy.
The title-track opener weds hard bop and soul-jazz, with the guitarist and saxophonist stating the vampy head. Stryker’s fingerpopping solo evolves into a Wes Montgomery-esque chordal interlude that underscores Gold’s B-3 break. Mintzer’s “Overlap” is straight-ahead hard bop, with excellent interplay between the saxophonist and Gold. Stryker’s solo fires with arpeggiatic intensity. His “Summit” is a quartet showcase, melding post- and hard bop in a vigorous arrangement incorporating short, killer solos from everyone. The reading of Wayne Shorter’s ballad “Infant Eyes” is a highlight. The quartet takes liberties with tempo and harmonic emphasis, underscoring the melody’s emotional poignancy. The tempo is a shade faster during the first three minutes; Mintzer and Stryker faithfully twin on the lyric head as Gold offers swelling changes atop Hunter’s unhurried shuffle. The jam ratchets to midtempo driven by B-3 chord swells and a funky bassline. Mintzer re-enters with the modal blues, introducing Stryker’s elegant yet labyrinthine solo before the band comes back together. Gold’s “Soulstice” is a soul-jazz tune with gorgeous frontline work from Stryker and Mintzer before his B-3 solo winds into a different — but no less swinging — musical dimension. Eddie Harris’ funky classic “Cold Duck Time” is, as expected, rendered with grit and grease. Its punchy, uptempo vamp swings like mad. Stryker’s guitar punctuates, questions, and espouses his faith in the almighty groove during his solo. Mintzer’s circular statement of the head evolves lyrically and phraseologically, as the rhythm sections graft it onto their attack during his solo. Stryker’s “Code Blue” is a hard bop number with wonderfully applied rhythmic syncopation and a driving guitar solo. Harry Warren’s “The More I See You” is delivered atop a soulful backbeat and Mintzer’s elegant approach to the melody before Stryker enters. Closer “Straight Ahead,” by the saxophonist, is aptly titled; bluesy hard bop meets tight, funky swing, carrying out this excellent album. Groove Street offers communicative familiarity between trio and saxophonist sure, but it’s more than that: the artists’ near instinctive mutual support with their ensemble and soloists allows them contextual chances they might not otherwise take. All killer, no filler.
Thom Jurek (AllMusic)
