Bass Man Walk Downtown

Lately, I have had zero to no interest in finding new music. I know there are many new artists I have run across on the wonderful World Wide Web, but I’m not interested. I recently went thru a period of buying/acquiring, re-acquiring fists full of recordings, completing catalogs of my favorite artists – you know, just to have. I would listen to them once or twice and then shelve them. So, now, I have all these un-scrutinized recordings. The other day while sitting around in the midst of the collection, I found myself digging around in and wanting to listen too some of the past acquisitions.
Enter Lonnie Plaxico.

I first became aware of bassist Plaxico some years back thru his work with Cassandra Wilson, who happens to be my favorite singer – and one of whose catalog I was completing. It was Wilson’s ‘Blue Light ‘til Dawn’ recording that really captured my attention. There was something very haunting about the way his bass sounded on the opening cut – ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’. It was this beautiful tone that seemed to strike at you every time he strummed a note. His strumming matched the mood of the song perfectly. Some years later, I ran across his MySpace page, which hipped me to his work as a composer/bandleader.

On his MySpace page, he was hawking the title tune called ‘Melange’ from, what I understand, his fifth document as a bandleader, ‘Melange’. What caught me from the beginning was the metering and phrasing of the keyboards and horn players. I began to think of the music as being part of the “avant-garde” period of jazz. The rhythms, patterns and the time signatures change throughout most of the songs. And I absolutely love the way the music continues to move. A four and a half minute piece will play like a ten minute fugue. The music is frantic but it never losses its direction, focus or sound. The music is challenging in the sense that if forces you to pay attention to the constant movement, however it stays very fluid.

The ballad ‘Darkness’ reminded me of what a good composer would write following the blueprint set by Miles’ Modal Jazz period, down to the muted lead trumpet. I guess it’s both accolades to Plaxico that he has the virtuosity to stand up to a Miles joint and Miles too, because imitation is flattery.

Track 4, ‘Short Take’ – The B Section grooves feel good, but some of the trumpet improv work leaves something to be desired. However the saxophone solos in these sections fit in nicely. Very cool!

The tribute to Miles plays like the rest of the album, a very solid blending of bebop and fusion.

Plaxico’s playing is flawless. As the original Liner notes states, “as a bassist, he switches from acoustic to electric bass as needed, without sacrificing either tone or speed.” And also, unlike a Stanley Clarke record, although Lonnie is a bass man, he doesn’t spend much if anytime featuring his bass work. In ‘Paella’, he does show his deftness in a soli section with his tenor man, by playing the opening run with him.

In short, this is a very cool document. All the be-bop to avant-garde to modal to fusion enthusiasts alike will enjoy the variety and virtuosity of this recording.

It is highly recommended and I’m certainly glad that I unearthed this from my collection.