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by Andrew Bishop
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 Underground |
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Personnel:Chris Potter, tenor saxophone; Wayne Krantz, guitar; Craig Taborn,
Fender Rhoads; Nate Smith, drums; Adam Rogers, additional guitar on
“The Wheel” and “Yesterday”.
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Tracks:Next Best Western, Morning Bell, Nudnik, Lotus Blossom, Big Top, The Wheel, Celestial Nomad, Underground, Yesterday
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Chris Potter
Underground
Saxophonist Chris Potter’s new recording Underground (Sunnyside Records, SSC 3034) delivers a dazzling display of rhythm and texture in the genus of funk. Potter’s cohorts include Wayne Krantz on guitar, Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes, and Nate Smith on drums (with guitarist Adam Rogers on two tracks) who provide a group dynamic inextricably bound the CDs concept and tone.
Potter’s compositions employ a highly developed sense of organic transmutation through the use of slick transitions, recapitulation, and layering. For example, “Nudnik” begins with a short solo saxophone before the other instruments slowly emerge in a playful texture that convenes and settles on a rhythmic hook—only to transition into a new section almost instantly, flowing from section to section in a seamless fabric. Perhaps the most ambitious composition is “Big Top” which strikingly layers two of the main thematic and rhythmic elements simultaneously in the final section, giving the piece a highly satisfactory completion.
In general, the soloists explore sound and texture and especially rhythm, expanding on the stylistic frames of funk by maneuvering short phrases across pulse and time. Potter’s solo on the title track “Underground” expands and contracts around a few short melodic fragments in an engaging and economical manipulation of ideas. The rhythmic interplay and joyful playfulness of Taborn, Krantz, and Smith during Taborn’s solo on “Nudnik” is remarkable and worthy of multiple listening.
Underground is both a departure and expansion of Potter’s past aesthetic. It is a striking and compelling first offering from a dynamic group of musicians.
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Andrew Bishop |
| About the author: |
| Andrew Bishop is an active composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist in diverse musical idioms. As a composer he has received over 20 commissions along with recognition and awards from the ASCAP, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Hewlett-Melon Foundation, Meet the Composer, and a nomination from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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