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Adam Shulman Sextet: Full Tilt

By Jack Bowers
February 7, 2018
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In music, as in life, not every new voice is worth hearing. Here's one that is. Full Tilt, the fifth CD by San Francisco-born and based pianist

Adam Shulman

piano
b.1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Adam Shulman's sextet, is a throwback to those halcyon days when bop was king and giants like Diz, Bird, Miles,

Max Roach

drums
1925 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Max Roach,

Hank Mobley

saxophone, tenor
1930 - 1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Hank Mobley,

Benny Golson

saxophone, tenor
1929 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Benny Golson,

Horace Silver

piano
1928 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Horace Silver,

Wardell Gray

saxophone, tenor
1921 - 1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Wardell Gray,

Lee Morgan

trumpet
1938 - 1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Lee Morgan,

Kenny Clarke

drums
1914 - 1985

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Clarke,

Clifford Brown

trumpet
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Clifford Brown,

Sonny Stitt

saxophone
1924 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Stitt,

J.J. Johnson

trombone
1924 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">J.J. Johnson,

Hampton Hawes

piano
1928 - 1977

" data-original-title="" title="">Hampton Hawes,

Freddie Hubbard

trumpet
1938 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Freddie Hubbard,

Milt Jackson

vibraphone
1923 - 1999

" data-original-title="" title="">Milt Jackson,

Kenny Dorham

trumpet
1924 - 1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Dorham,

Art Blakey

drums
1919 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Blakey,

" data-original-title="" title="">Dexter Gordon and their kin were its noble emissaries.

Although the album was recorded for Cellar Live, it would have been right at home on Prestige or Blue Note, the sovereign labels during the bop regency of the 1950s and '60s. On the one hand, Shulman's radiant charts, underlined by delightful harmonies and rhythmic patterns, emulate that glorious era while on the other proving decisively that superior music is indeed timeless. For the record, Shulman wrote seven of the album's nine numbers and arranged all of them. Several sound like they could have come straight from the Jazz Messengers or Clifford Brown / Max Roach libraries, and there are deep bows elsewhere to

Cedar Walton

piano
1934 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Cedar Walton ("Fantasy in D Flat") and

Bobby Timmons

piano
1935 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobby Timmons (the overtly named "Mr. Timmons"). The ensemble is equally taut and assured on the lone standard,

Matt Dennis

b.1914

" data-original-title="" title="">Matt Dennis / Tom Adair's poignant "The Night We Called It a Day," and Shulman's heartfelt eulogy, "San Francisco National Cemetery."

Speaking of the ensemble, Shulman is fortunate to have found and gathered around him a team of blue-chip sidemen who evidently are not only as passionate about bop as he is but are able to translate that ardor into action and improvise in that style about as well as anyone. Trumpeter

Mike Olmos

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Olmos, alto

Lyle Link

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Lyle Link and tenor

Patrick Wolff

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Patrick Wolff share the front line while Shulman, bassist

John Wiitala

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">John Wiitala and drummer Evan Hughes comprise a stalwart rhythm section that could have held its ground with any during the heralded Bop Era. Without singling anyone out for special praise, suffice to say that the solos by all hands (including the leader) are as keen and resourceful as those one might expect from their venerable predecessors. Indeed, close your eyes and you may start to believe that some of those hallowed patriarchs have actually made the scene for one last gig. They haven't, of course, but Shulman's time-shifting sextet is beyond any doubt the next best thing.

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Track Listing

Fantasy in D Flat; Lonesome Dream; The Conqueror; San Francisco National Cemetery; Yeah . . . So; 4th Street Strut; Full Tilt; The Night We Called It a Day; Mr.Timmons.

Personnel

Adam Shulman

piano

Adam Shulman: piano; Mike Olmos: trumpet; Lyle Link: alto sax; Patrick Wolff: tenor sax; John Wiitala: bass; Evan Hughes: drums.

Album information

Title: Full Tilt | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Cellar Live

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