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Bobby Hutcherson: Somewhere In The Night

By Dan Bilawsky
October 26, 2012
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Bobby Hutcherson: Somewhere In The Night

The elder statesman of the vibraphone and the fastest gun in organ town don't seem like ideal partners on paper, but on record they gel quite well. Blue Note vibraphone icon Bobby Hutcherson and the fleet-fingered

Joey DeFrancesco

organ, Hammond B3
1971 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Joey DeFrancesco initially teamed up for the organist's Organic Vibes (Concord, 2006), and their chemistry was so strong that they couldn't just let that be a one-off pairing.

Somewhere In The Night finds them sharing stage space while entertaining adoring fans at Jazz At Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in the fall of 2009. Hutcherson gets top billing this time, but the issue of ownership doesn't mean a heck of a lot here; Hutcherson, DeFrancesco, and the organist's trio mates—guitarist

Peter Bernstein

guitar
b.1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Bernstein and drummer

Byron Landham

drums
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Byron Landham—all deliver the goods in sterling fashion.

The album-opening "Teddy" is powered by Landham's propulsive cymbal work, but DeFrancesco's angular soloing is the attention-grabber. His notes-a-plenty approach, which can be overwhelming at other times, serves him well here. Things continue swimmingly as Hutcherson touches on his well-known "Little B's Poem" and nods to vibraphone forefather

Milt Jackson

vibraphone
1923 - 1999

" data-original-title="" title="">Milt Jackson with a bluesy take on "SKJ." Landham tears it up at the tail end of pianist

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington's "Take The Coltrane" and Bernstein gets to the heart of the matter during his solo spot on saxophonist

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's "Wise One," which starts off in an open, spiritual realm before settling into a straight groove.

The title track finds the soloists making greater use of space in their individual statements, while "My Foolish Heart" wins the award for most affecting performance. Hutcherson's introductory cadenza places his vibes deep in a dream, his soloing is melodicism distilled to its essence, and his musical thoughts twinkle like the stars in the sky as things wrap up; Landham and DeFrancesco deserve bonus points for their sensitive background work on this one. A hard-swinging "S'Wonderful" almost seems superfluous after such an emotional rendering, but it ends things in upbeat fashion.

Before Organic Vibes, Hutcherson hadn't really connected with the organ since his mid-sixties meetings with

Larry Young

organ, Hammond B3
1940 - 1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Young on guitarist

Grant Green

guitar
1935 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Grant Green's Street Of Dreams (Blue Note, 1964), and on organist

Big John Patton

organ, Hammond B3
1935 - 2002

" data-original-title="" title="">Big John Patton's Let 'Em Roll (Blue Note, 1965), but it's hard to understand why. Hutcherson and DeFrancesco prove to be a perfect match. Perhaps Hutcherson was just biding his time until the real thing came along.

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Track Listing

Teddy; Little B's Poem; SKJ; Take The Coltrane; Wise One; Somewhere In The Night; My Foolish Heart; S'Wonderful.

Personnel

Bobby Hutcherson

vibraphone

Bobby Hutcherson: vibraphone; Joey DeFrancesco: Hammond B-3 organ; Peter Bernstein: guitar; Byron Landham: drums.

Album information

Title: Somewhere In The Night | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Kind of Blue Records

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