BEN ALLISON & MEDICINE WHEEL
Buzz

Palmetto Records

Ben Allison’s band Medicine Wheel is at the forefront of creating small group jazz that honors the music’s traditions (ie, utilizes real improvisation and swings) yet pushes forward into new territory and has the potential to attract audiences who enjoy interesting music but aren’t totally committed to jazz. They create chamber jazz that is smart but not overly intellectualized, is influenced by rock and R&B but doesn’t pander, creates ample room for the musicians to explore but doesn’t succumb to jam band noodling.

For example, ”Green Al” features a beat that is somewhere between Latin and drum ‘n’ bass as well as an unforgettable melody and a descending tenor sax figure that recalls the James Bond theme “You Only Live Twice.” The composition is so clean and makes great use of space. “Respiration,” the album’s opening track, glides quietly along with an underlying Morse code of keyboard that sounds like it could have come from Radiohead’s Kid A. With the entrance of Frank Kimbrough’s blues/gospel-tinged solo, the group sounds a bit like an updated version of Keith Jarrett’s European Quartet with Jan Garbarek, Jon Christenson, and Palle Danielson.

The group doesn’t take the more overt approach to innovation that a musician like Dave Douglass does, instead masking the music’s more adventurous elements in song-oriented structures that draw the listener in. Once there, more subtle musical elements reveal themselves. In addition, soloists are uniformly interesting and creative, creating statements of rare beauty and logic that are too often not found in modern jazz performances. Pianist Frank Kimbrough is particularly strong on many tracks, particularly the first two, “Respiration” and “Buzz.” By tossing in the right blues inflection, Kimbrough keeps his improvisations (and the band) nicely “inside” while elements of the tunes themselves are at times free to wander to more “outside” areas.

As members of the Jazz Composers Collective, the various accomplished members of Allison’s Medicine Wheel mostly have projects of their own, and all are worth seeking out. These musicians clearly understand what Allison is up to with his compositions, and they respond with solo work that seems to grow organically out of the compositions and contributes to their overall development. Upon first listening to this CD, one may have difficulty remembering specific solos on specific tunes because of they way that they seem very much like part of the composition. However, after a few listens it becomes apparent that this is a group of strong soloists and Allison and his compositions are the beneficiaries of this talent.

Allison himself is a composer of very interesting and varied music, and his vision is clearly articulated through his writing, arranging, playing, and bandleading. If I had to find a couple of CDs that I felt definitely pointed the way for jazz to survive and grow into the future, I would have to pick at least one Ben Allison disc, and Buzz is as good an example as any. It’s a fine place for those not familiar with this group’s stellar music to begin, and longtime listeners will certainly want to check in with Allison this time around as well.