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Randy Napoleon: Common Tones

By Chris M. Slawecki
February 17, 2020
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Randy Napoleon

guitar
b.1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Randy Napoleon may represent the new school of Detroit guitar players emerging from the lineage of

Kenny Burrell

guitar, electric
b.1931

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Burrell and (Motown) Funk Brothers

Dennis Coffey

guitar
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Dennis Coffey and

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Messina, but his approach and sound on Common Tones are old school for sure. His fifth set as a leader (on the Detroit Music Factory label) collaborates across four generations of Michigan jazz musicians and sounds and feels like an old-school jazz conversation, as if Napoleon and friends are playing directly to each other, and to you.

This meets the standard of Napoleon's description of jazz: "When you are playing jazz, it is a conversation that moves at lightning speed. There is no time to think. It has to be reflexive, an ingrained response."

Common Tones extends beyond the traditional jazz repertoire but remains a jazz purist's dream. "Common Tones" and "Where It Ends," two Napoleon originals, fully channel the strong and soulful sound of Detroit's favorite guitar son Burrell, and its cheerful glide through "Wouldn't It Be Nice," which mines from

The Beach Boys

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">The Beach Boys' vocal classic a vein of deep, shining and rock-solid jazz, opens this set like a sunny smile.

Trombone player Drew Kilpela finds it first, and then drummer Nicholas Bracewell kicks up the spicy-hot New Orleans jazz funk in Napoleon's original "You've Got To Hang On," a great title because his guitar leads the ensemble through its long melodic lines.

The leader's tight and accurate attack in "I Married An Angel" (from the Rogers and Hart songbook) sounds like he's threading guitar notes through the eye of a needle, yet leaves plenty of space for drummer

Nick Bracewell

" data-original-title="" title="">Nick Bracewell and bassist

Louie Leager

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Louie Leager to dish out their groove stew, too and his duet with guitarist Jocelyn Gould on "The Song is You" (Hammerstein/Kern) soars from its very start in a solid but supple sound suggesting overdubbed

Joe Pass

guitar
1929 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Pass playing both parts at once.

Many of the musicians Napoleon features on Common Tones are former students. "This record is dedicated to my teachers, and to my students," his notes explain. "We are connected through the music."

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Track Listing

Wouldn't It Be Nice; Common Tones; You've Got To Hang On; I Married An Angel; Saber Rattle; How It Might Have Been; Where It Ends; The Song Is You; Signed Dizzy, With Love; Bakin'; If DW Were Here; Mr. Smith; Lessons Learned.

Personnel

Randy Napoleon

guitar

Randy Napoleon: guitar; Marcus Howell: alto sax; Drew Kipela: trombone; Seth Ebersole: tenor sax; Gerand McDowell: piano; Adam Olszewski: bass; Nicholas Bracewell: drums; Louie Leager: bass; Jocelyn Gould: guitar; Etienne Charles: trumpet; Michael Dease: trombone; Diego Rivera: tenor sax; Xavier Davis: piano; Rodney Whitaker: bass; Randy Gelispie: drums.

Album information

Title: Common Tones | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Detroit Music Factory

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