Positootly !＜限定盤＞

ジョン・ビーズリーが2008年に高い評価を得た前作『レター・トゥ・ハービー』(ハービー・ハンコックの音楽を印象派的に解釈した作品)に続く2009年作品。
ルイジアナ出身の彼が自ら手掛けた魅力的なオリジナル曲の数々と厳選されたカヴァー曲を披露している。
＜パーソネル＞John Beasley(p, Fender Rhodes, synth) Bennie Maupin(ts,ss) Brian Lynch(tp) James Genus(b)
Jeff "Tain" Watts(ds) Munyungo Jackson(perc)

Keyboardist John Beasleys positive, vibrant take on a variety of modern jazz styles takes shape on this recording, where his playing and ample talent as a composer are showcased. This effort takes into account his New Orleans heritage with an incumbent approach, embraces hard bop, and on occasion fusion or a look at the funky side of things. The core trio of Beasley, drummer Jeff Watts, and bassist James Genus is an unstoppable force, while trumpeter Brian Lynch and especially Bennie Maupin on tenor and soprano sax, elevate the band to all-star small-ensemble status on select tracks. Beasleys emphasis is on the acoustic piano, but he also uses a little synthesizer and some savory Fender Rhodes, all with a skilled, professional, and inspired expertise that is lifted up by his heavyweight bandmates. He also wrote seven of the ten tracks, including a remake of an older tune, Caddo Bayou, a hip and hard-to-neo-bop swinger, with Lynch and Maupin leading the charge. Black Thunder and The Eight Winds are interesting and intricate originals that should easily find a place on legitimate jazz radio playlists. The former has the pianists three-chord base propelling the snappy, jumpy horns, while the latter track is loaded via Charles Mingus-like stop-starts, with Lynchs muted trumpet and Maupins tenor in full bop and funk flight. The Crescent City beat of Shatita Boom Boom is pure, contemporary, shuffle driven by the heavy, hip, and groovy bass of Genus with Maupins soprano on top, and theres a funky gumbo treatment of the Bobby Timmons evergreen So Tired, with the Fender Rhodes piano of Beasley lending it a 70s feel. Piano-bass-drums trio tracks include the title selection, which is a busy and happy neo-bop number a a Chick Corea with much interaction, especially between Beasley and Watts, while a revised version of the Antonio Carlos Jobim standard Dindi is stewed in bluesy gravy, a waltz tempo, and shaded in echoed quotes of Randy Westons Hi Fly. Also in a Latin mood, Astor Piazzollas Tanguedia III is an updated, nuevo tango traipse with wah-wah sounds, tastefully combining acoustic and electric piano. John Beasley is not the biggest name on the jazz radar, but he should be duly acknowledged as a talented and creative contemporary jazz musician. This recording is his finest effort, and stands proudly alongside his previous recording, a fine tribute to Herbie Hancock. ~ Michael G. Nastos