Joe Alterman & Mocean Worker: Keep The Line Open (Mowo! Inc.)
Atlanta-born jazz pianist Joe Alterman was in the middle of a soundcheck at New York’s Blue Note in 2012 when a wheelchair-bound Les McCann came up and asked him to “Play me some blues, boy.” An unlikely friendship developed and the pair, separated in age by more than 50 years, kept in touch until McCann’s death in 2023.
For those who may not recall McCann, he was an American soul-jazz pianist, popular in the 60s & early 70s. His music has been reborn in Keep The Line Open, the new release by Alterman in conjunction with bassist Adam Dorn. Dorn, aka Mocean Worker, has his own links with McCann. When Dorn was a child, his father produced McCann’s records for Atlantic and later on Dorn ended up playing bass in McCann’s band.
Over the years, Alterman and Dorn received frequent phone calls from McCann and humorous bits of those conversations lace the album. They help to revive the McCann era and contribute to the buzz and enthusiasm of a seemingly live performance even though it’s actually a studio recording. All the instruments you hear on the album are played by the pair. Each number sounds as if it’s an expertly rendered McCann cover but only one of them is. Apart from Burnin’ Coal and a stride-piano arrangement of Lerner & Loewe’s Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, the rest are originals. It’s a breezy, upbeat outing. This is party time – check out Yay Yay Yay to get the vibe.
Sean Mason: A Breath Of Fresh Air (Taylor Christian Records 001)
Twenty-six-year-old pianist Sean Mason was born in North Carolina. Influenced by Ray Charles and gospel music, he began teaching himself the piano at the relatively late age of 13. Six years later he moved to New York to attend the Juilliard School, became a session player in the city’s jazz scene and formed a trio playing the clubs. In 2022 he assembled a quintet whose debut album, The Southern Suite, came out in 2023.
The band’s follow-up, A Breath Of Fresh Air, features the same personnel with Mason on piano, Tony Glausi trumpet, Chris Lewis tenor sax, Felix Moseholm bass and Domo Branch drums. Imaginative marketing informs us that the eight tracks, all composed by Mason, “seamlessly blend historical elegance with an urban, contemporary edge, crafting a blueprint for a boundless future of modern jazz”. It adds that “this profound statement is a visionary work of elevated sophistication, capturing the pianist’s spiritual and creative rebirth into a singular artistic identity”.
The thing is, this bop-based music would have been more listenable if it had been allowed to run its course. The problem is that it suffers from innumerable breaks and inexplicable changes in tempo, persistent fading in volume and undue repetition. Consequently, the music has a jumpy, faltering feel. It’s clear that individual band members have the ability to play well but owing to the issues outlined, overall delivery sounds hesitant and at times timorous.
Much is made of the fact that Mason and his band “recorded old-school with no sheet music, steady eye contact, and no booths or barriers between them”. Normally, this would be laudable but in this instance maybe it’s part of the problem.
