In the 40 years since first testing the paramiters of the soul with the Chico Hamilton Quintet, Jim Hall has been solidifying his reputation as a master of the guitar, and his new album gives ample evidence of why he's he in high regard by the jazz public, critics and fellow musicians.
Hall's playing on 10 numbers achieves a high water mark of musical poetry. His single-note passages-lean, trim, graceful and hushed-are of a piece with his strumming of unusual chords. He is a fount of rhythms and harmony. The idea behind this session, however, is not to throw the spotlight just on Hall's lyricism, musicianship and incisive curiousity but to have him engage five musician-friends or acquaintances in intelligent, open-hearted conversation, all the while supported by an unobtrusive bassist and drummer.
Bill Frisell is up to the challenge, bringing focus and sublime wit to his celestial tones when communing with his former instructor and occasional nightclub-gig cohort on the abstract "Frisell Frazzle" and the inviting "Simple Things" (both Hall composistions, like everything except the standard "Skylark"). Despite two distintive personalities at work, their interaction is as seamless as silk. Joe Lavano, making his inital musical meeting with Hall, brings typical imagination and emotional commitment to a hormonically tricky ballad titled "Bon Ami" and a cheerful song the guitarist wrote specially for him, "Calypso Joe," which glides on the same tropical breeze as the classic Sonny Rollin's-Hall collaboration "St. Thomas."
Down a few levels from the rarified artistic heights of Hall's encounters with Frisell and Lavano, yet still pleasurable, are his collaborations with Tom Harrel, Gil Goldstien and Mike Stern. Harrell's economy of line and extreme thoughtfulness would seem to be a perfect match for Hal's playing on "Dream Steps" and "Skylark"; however, each fares better in separate solo sp[ots thanthey do coupling or counterposing ideas. (For earlier samples of Hall-and-Harrell legerdemain, seek out the guitarist's late-80's These Roots album.) Accordion player Goldstien, a former pianist in Hall's quartet, uses the language of melodrama to somewhat diiapate the complex feelings expressed by the guitarist during "Snowbound" and the "free" title track. Finally, two dialogues with guitarist Mike Stern-"Stern Stuff" and "Uncle Ed"-are lively, articulate and a bit slick. -Frank-John Hadley |
