Rob Dixon: Naptown Soul
There’s more music to Indianapolis than Wes Montgomery, regardless of the Naptown legend. As Preston Lauterbach convincingly works out in his book The Chitlin’ Circuit: And The Road To Rock ’N’ Roll, Indiana Avenue was one of the main birthplaces of black rock & roll, in effect popular music. Indeed, Naptown spells soul with a capital S.
Meaty-toned tenor saxophonist Rob Dixon does justice to his Indy background. The music on Naptown Soul – which, to be sure, doesn’t forget to honour Montgomery – is accessible, steeped in groove and marked by strong personal statements. Dixon’s solo in his funky medium-slow showstopper The Earth, The Sky is no joke, the staccato patterns of his never-ending line developed in a crafty and soulful vein somewhat reminiscent of Eddie Harris.
He’s excellent on soprano as well, as evidenced by his fluent and featherlight reading of the Marvin Gaye vehicle I Want You. It’s striking how Dixon alternates between asphalt jungle and green pastures. Bandmates Dave Stryker on guitar and Sam Fribush on organ have their splendid say as well, on a top rate soul-jazz record.
Discography
Sly Vibe; Bumpin’ On Sunset; Walkin’ In Rhythm; Naptown Blues; I Want You; The Earth, The Sky; Fields And Valleys; Four One; (45.07)
Rob Dixon (ts, ss); Dave Stryker (g); Sam Fribush (org); Richard “Sleepy” Floyd (d). Indianapolis, 29 & 30 January 2026.
Strikezone Records 8829
New England Jazz Collaborative: Tributaries
Ambitious composers and arrangers have few opportunities to showcase their big-band works these days, a problem that Jeremy Cohen and associates tackled head on by founding the New England Jazz Collaborative, an “artist-led non-profit collective dedicated to commissioning, presenting and documenting new music by a diverse group of living composers”.
The temporary climax of its fruits, Tributaries, presents work by Cohen, Darryl Harper, Matan Rubinstein and Sam Spear. It’s a programme that’s very wide-ranging though underlined by a common desire to gel complexity with earthiness. Cohen’s Another Brighter Day moves into fusion territory, explored with a breezy, lilting tone by soprano saxophonist Temidayo Balogun, while his Green Turtle Strut is a lively West-Africa-inspired (high-life) romp.
Harper provides the layered ballad Kiss Me Again as well as The Secret, odd-metre funk which spells “swagger” from the beat to the lusty trombone. More out there, Rubinstein’s Ol’ Liminal, in the course of only four minutes, builds from Stockhausen-ish modernism to the turbulent simultaneous improvisation of New Orleans jazz, while Spears’s Gee, Em wraps swing in a postmodern Third Stream jacket.
Having a flexible band at their command, Cohen & Co stay true to the spirit of such Boston conservatory forebears as Bob Brookmeyer, Gunther Schuller, George Russell and Bob Moses, properly linking intellect with emotion. The New England Jazz Collaborative proves to be a fine addition to such European counterparts as the WDR Jazz Orchestra and the Paradox Jazz Orchestra.
Discography
Another Brighter Day; Ol’ Liminal; Kiss Me Again; The Secret; Gee, Em; Green Turtle Strut (40.27)
Jeremy Cohen, Darryl Harper, Matan Rubinstein & Sam Spear (com, arr); a.o. Mark Tipton (t); Temidayo Balogun (ss); Chris Gagne (tb); Mitch Selib (g); Ellie Prunea (p); Bob Nieske (b); Lumanyano Mzi (d). Boston, 6 June 2025.
NEJC 001
