Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Wellstone Conspiracy: Motives

Wellstone Conspiracy: Motives

By Dan McClenaghan
April 22, 2010
View read count

This ensemble might have been labeled the

Brent Jensen

saxophone, alto
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Brent Jensen Quartet. They recorded One More Mile under the Idaho-based saxophonist's name. For their album Motives, however, they are calling themselves the Wellstone Conspiracy as they delve deeper into a melodic music that is steeped in the modern harmonic concepts of

Herbie Hancock

piano
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Herbie Hancock and

Wayne Shorter

saxophone
1933 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Shorter.

The set opens with Jeff Johnson's grainy, guitar-like bass lines on the Jensen-penned "Bye Bye Blackwell." The late

Ed Blackwell

drums
1929 - 1992

" data-original-title="" title="">Ed Blackwell was, perhaps most famously,

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman's drummer on This is Our Music (Atlantic Records, 1960), Ornette on Tenor (Atlantic Records, 1962) and many more. The tune is the most free and most mysterious of this set, with Jensen's very melodic soprano saxophone yearning inside the jumbled rhythm. Pianist

Bill Anschell

piano
b.1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Anschell's solo is complex and impossibly beautiful in front of the relentless Johnson and

John Bishop

drums
b.1959

" data-original-title="" title="">John Bishop, a drummer of orchestral dimensions.

Seven of the eight tunes are written by the band members—three by Jensen, three by Anschell, one by Johnson, with

Billy Strayhorn

piano
1915 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Billy Strayhorn's "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing," closing the set. These are virtuosic players/writers, but it's the cohesive group dynamic that makes the sound succeed. Anschell's "Phindango" has an optimistic vibe, with Jensen's soprano sounding especially sweet. Jensen's "Anne Rose" goes the gorgeous ballad route, with Jensen's horn blowing warmly and robustly in front of subtle, light-stepping accompaniment that picks up the tempo as it rolls along.

Johnson's "Portrait" goes inward and features one of the bassist's pensive solos entwined with Anschell's delicate piano sparkle. Johnson bounces, in a big and rubbery way, into the Jensen-penned, cool-bopping "Doop Dee Doop," a tune gets a bit fractured as Anschell and Bishop shamble into the proceedings. "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing," one of Strayhorn's loveliest tunes, is given a very reverent treatment here—an achingly gorgeous seven minutes to wrap up to an outstanding set of modern jazz sounds.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Bye Bye Blackwell; Phindango; Anne Rose; Turbulator; Portrait; Stories We Hold; Doop Dee Doop; A Flower is a Lovesome Thing.

Personnel

Wellstone Conspiracy

band / ensemble / orchestra

Brent Jensen: soprano saxophone; Bill Anschell: piano; Jeff Johnson: bass; John Bishop: drums.

Album information

Title: Motives | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Origin Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Cape May Jazz Festival's 33rd Editio...
< Previous

Take Five With Art Hodges
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.