Human Motioni Personnel:Taku Akiyama (alto saxophone), Matt Holman (trumpet/flugelhorn), Jordan Baskin (piano/Fender Rhodes), Jeff Greene (bass), Jon Deitemyer (drums). Tracks:Things As They Are, Places, 2+1-1, A.G. [South], In All Ways, Quiet Sky, Flown, Spoken, Peace of Mind, November

A great new release has been sent to us by Chicago bassist Jeff Greene. The name of the disc is entitled Human Motion, which is also the name of Greene’s fine ensemble. The group is comprised of some great young talent from the Chicago area. Greene has had the group active on the road and performing actively.

The result is a group that has begun to mature musically. They react well to one another in both ensemble and improvisational settings. They’re playing musical with a wide range of dynamics and emotions, that the music simply attracts the listener. I love the compositions. I think they’re very melodic. These tunes use a variety of musical contrast, which want me to return to multiple listens.

The great thing about this band is their ability to capture musical improvisations that fit the intended compositional structures. There is a lot of team-play musically. I do not hear musical agenda’s coming through, but rather 5 people trying to capture the intent of musical composition. This is very refreshing!

I think part of this success lies within a great communication with Greene’s rhythm section. When it’s it time to swing, they lock beautifully. But getting to that point in many of their compositions requires some careful ensemble playing, which never looses it sense of groove and direction. It allows Taku Akiyama and Matt Homan to thrive upfront. There’s a sense of ease by the front-line players on this recording. Making this trumpet player envious of this front line combination.

This music becomes hard to label. I’ve read some of the comments of others on how to categorize this music. But it is a trend of many young musicians, to be inclusive of more musical history than some traditionalists in today’s musical scene. It embraces straight ahead values, and has wonderful improvisational moments. The feel is outstanding and has a beautiful groove. It is contemporary music, which embraces the third stream, but its harmonic structure is a little kinder. Leaving beautifully placed melodies throughout.

If you’re in the Chicagoland area, try to look up this fine ensemble. It is a very entertaining band. For more information about Human motion, please visit: JeffGreeneMusic.com