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Mario Pavone Orange Double Tenor: Arc Suite t/pi t/po

By Nic Jones
November 6, 2010
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Mario Pavone Orange Double Tenor: Arc Suite t/pi t/po

This release is something of a milestone for bassist and leader Mario Pavone. Now in his 70th year, he's also in his 45th year in music, which in a lot of cases would understandably mark a slowing down or restatement of established values. But Pavone is nothing if not forward-looking. So while looking back to the 1960s for inspiration for this music, he's succeeded in putting together a program alive with contemporary values.

In order for this to happen, he's been judicious in his choice of sidemen. With the exception of trumpeter

Dave Ballou

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Ballou this is the band that breathed such potent life into his previous release, Ancestors (Playscape, 2008). The perfect marriage of band and composer-leader is apparent on "East Ark," where the tenor saxophones of

Jimmy Greene

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Jimmy Greene and

Tony Malaby

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Tony Malaby lend both depth and shading to the essential darkness of the piece, before Ballou turns in the kind of solo which summons up memories of

Lee Morgan

trumpet
1938 - 1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Lee Morgan working in what was, for him, the rarefied setting of trombonist

Grachan Moncur III

trombone
1937 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Grachan Moncur III's band.

What's also clear on "The Dom" is the degree to which Pavone's writing is clich��-free. The echoes of

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk and, more pertinently,

Herbie Nichols

piano
1919 - 1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Herbie Nichols, are never more than faint on this one, when Ballou again gives the impression that he might have been working in this band and with this music for decades. Pianist

Peter Madsen

piano
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Madsen brings something to the blend as well—his accompaniment is marked by nothing as tiresome as the regular comp, whilst in solo he teases out implications of the writing which are anything but apparent. Indeed, such is the ease by which these guys collectively avoid all the notable precedents in post-bop small group jazz, that it raises the question as to why so few people manage it.

The rush of "West Of Crash" is a case in point, especially when Malaby, he of the slightly harder tenor sax tone, turns in a solo which nods not only to the tricky nature of the musical setting, but to the need for light and space as tools for telling musical communication.

In view of how far jazz/improvised music has come, carving out fresh territory in the small group area is a feat in itself, but Pavone and his group do it with aplomb. The result is fresh, invigorated, compelling music-making.

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Track Listing

Continuing; East Arc; Poles; Nokimo; West Of Crash; Half Dome (for Bill Dixon); The Dom; Silver Print; Dome; t/pi t/po; Mid Code; 17 Note.

Personnel

Mario Pavone

bass

Dave Ballou: trumpet, cornet; Jimmy Greene: tenor sax; Tony Malaby: tenor sax, soprano sax; Peter Madsen: piano; Mario Pavone: bass; Gerald Cleaver: drums. Steven Bernstein: slide trumpet (on #12)

Album information

Title: Arc Suite t/pi t/po | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Playscape Recordings

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