Presumably universality is implied in the title of this album, the inspiration for which was Montreal-based drummer Tommy Crane’s father, Nolan Earl Crane, a hotel band-leader from St. Louis, who was apparently “obsessed with smooth jazz from the Seventies and Eighties”.
Crane Jr. got together members of his regular quartet, augmented with additional musicians, rearranging material but not wanting to change the essence. In this way, it’s a tribute to the father and the sound. Sure, there’s plenty of musicians – and quite evidently it’s been well-produced – but running through is a sense of formulaic repetition in the layered themes with their minor adjustments.
Crane’s drumming is energetic and purposeful, injecting momentum with the assistance of percussion Martin Ditcham and the congas of Elli Miller Maboungou, to which the bass of Simon Jermyn is closely linked. Some tracks start promisingly but frustratingly tail off, unresolved, a pity when pianist Edwin De Goeij is featured as it’d be good to hear a more expansive solo from him; the interaction between piano and what sounds like a clarinet on A Moment Of Clarity really is a moment, a mere minute and a half. Alto and piano begin to stretch out on Life Is So Much Better but it doesn’t seem to go anywhere.
At eight minutes, Let’s Try This Again is the longest track and as it’s tenorist Claire Devlin’s only appearance, you’d expect a solo, but it’s only as support for Charlotte Greve’s alto. Despite the two having an opportunity to express themselves more towards the end, it remains understated.
Amherst Avenue has the feel of a TV theme when the end credits run; other times the music resembles the backcloth for a film of existential ennui, rather than angst. Lounge music for the cocktail set. Pleasant enough, easy to assimilate, but lacking bite and resolution.
Discography
Early 2000s; Italian Weekend; DMFAO; Let’s Try This Again; Life Is So Much Better In The Lounge; A Moment Of Clarity Amidst The Fog; Amherst Ave (For Earl) (29.57)
Tommy Crane (d); Charlotte Greve (as); Simon Jermyn (b, g); Claire Devlin (ts); Martin Ditcham (pc); Elli Miller Maboungou (cga); Edwin De Goeij (p); Sarah Page (hp); Mishka Stein (b); Aaron Spicer, Sterling Spicer, Jones Spicer (v). New York & Montreal, October & December 2022.
Elastic Recordings ER 012
