Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Vicente Archer: Short Stories

Vicente Archer: Short Stories

By Mike Jurkovic
July 3, 2023
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Bassist

Vicente Archer

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Vicente Archer may be a Grammy winner with a long grand vintage (

Nicholas Payton

trumpet
b.1973

" data-original-title="" title="">Nicholas Payton,

John Scofield

guitar
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">John Scofield,

Kenny Garrett

saxophone, alto
b.1960

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

" data-original-title="" title="">Norah Jones) but he has not revealed his own particular harvest as he does on the amicable and resilient Short Stories. Accompanied on what is technically his debut, fellow Scofield and Payton alum, drummer

Bill Stewart

drums
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Stewart and ever curious pianist

Gerald Clayton

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerald Clayton bring to these stories a captivating, unified narrative.

The soft, insistent tannins of "Mirai" opens Short Stories with expressive ease as Archer plucks into the rhythm and Clayton's dual duties on piano and electric piano add an atmospheric air and finish. As if to throw everything into a tizzy, Clayton's abstract "Round Comes Round" follows, but Stewart and Archer quickly bring a sense of shape to the proceedings. It is a nice turn around in the action that leads into Stewart's solid "Space Acres" where the drummer sets the pace and his mates meet his muse head on. The brief "Lighthouse," centered by Clayton's single note persistence, allows plenty of improvisatory room for Archer.

Producer

Jeremy Pelt

trumpet
b.1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Jeremy Pelt's "13/14" springs into action with each player taking the lead then laying out for the other to do so. First heard on

Pat Metheny

guitar
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Pat Metheny's initial duet album with

Charlie Haden

bass, acoustic
1937 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Haden, (Beyond the Missouri Sky (Verve, 1997), Metheny's aching "Message To A Friend" highlights a moody lucidity while Archer's lazy loping blues "Bye Nashville" quickly becomes one of those tunes one hopes does not end any time soon. Archer and Stewart take on two takes of Payton's cool jamming "It Takes Two To Know One," making Short Stories a rather compelling listen.

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Track Listing

Mirai; Round Comes Round; Space Acres; Lighthouse; Drop of Dusk; 13/14; Message To A Friend; Bye Nashville; It Takes Two To Know One; It Takes Two To Know One (Alternate Take).

Personnel

Vicente Archer

bass

Gerald Clayton

piano

Bill Stewart

drums

Album information

Title: Short Stories | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Cellar Live

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Vicente Archer Concerts

Nov 9 Sun

John Scofield’s Combo 73

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society
Half Moon Bay, CA

Nov 11 Tue

John Scofield, Bill Stewart, Vicente Archer

Boulder Theater
Boulder, CO

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