What's New on WDCB... with Paul Abella

Jared Hall – Hometown (Origin Records)

Washington State based Trumpeter Jared Hall has just released his third album, Hometown. So named because he recently returned home to Spokane, WA, he spent time throughout the US, which explains the band lineup here, with musicians from all over the place. Bassist Michael Glynn is also from Washington, but Tenor saxophonist Troy Roberts resides in New York City, Pianist Ben Markley spends his time in Denver, and drummer Kyle Swan is no stranger to many of us in Chicago. Even though this group was stitched together from various parts of the country, you’d never know it by listening to Hometown; this is as cohesive a disc as any I’ve heard recently. It helps that Hall is a fine writer. “Step by Step,” “Family Groove” and “Hometown” are all memorable melodies that bring out fine solos from Markley, Roberts and Hall. We’re treated to a couple of arrangements of Jazz classics on Hometown as well, with Bobby Hutcherson’s “Little B’s Poem” and Thelonious Monk’s “Ask Me Now” both getting nice rundowns.

Tia Fuller & Shamie Fuller-Royston – Dynasty: Fuller Sound vol. 2 (Cellar Music)

It’s immediately apparent on Dynasty: Fuller Sound vol. 2 that Tia Fuller and Shamie Fuller-Royston make a stellar musical duo. For those not already aware, Tia plays the alto saxophone and occasionally sings, and Shamie plays the piano. Running through a program of Jazz classics like Freddie Hubbard’s “Dear John,” Horace Silver’s “Summer in Central Park” and Sam Rivers’ “Beatrice” alongside some compelling original material, there is much to love here. Songs like “Dooty Baby” and “Momma Said” are written for family, and are dripping with the love that one clearly has for family. “Black Viking” sounds like a long lost Astor Piazolla composition, even if that wasn’t what Tia Fuller had in mind, and “Ode to Bach” brings a childhood fascination with classical music full-circle. Dynasty, for only having two voices, is a fuller sound, indeed, and it’s a lovely listen.

Parlor Greens – Emeralds (Colemine Records)

If it hasn’t become obvious over the course of my 30 years at WDCB, I am a sucker for a funky organ group. Make that organ group sound like it was recorded in 1964 in a studio that only existed in black and white with the needles in the red for the entire session, and I might make sure that I buy copies for home, the office AND the car. Enter the second album from Parlor Greens, A bit of a supergroup featuring Jimmy James, formerly of the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio and Adam Scone of the Dap-Tones and the Sugarman 3, (and Tim Carman on drums), they bring the funk in a serious way. It’s amazing what Jimmy James can do on a solo with one note, as he does on “Mustard Sauce,” When they bring the intensity down on “Drop Top” and let Scone take the lead, the results are intoxicating. The rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” is a welcome reprieve from the recent bevy of balladeering arrangements of that classic.  The Parlor Greens version pleads as much as any recent version I’ve heard, but the maudlin tempo is replaced by a greasy, begging howl coming straight out of Stax Studios in Memphis. Emeralds is a wholesale improvement on their debut, In Green We Dream, which was excellent in its own right. Parlor Greens are finding a voice all their own, and those of us that love a Jazz organ drenched in greasy funk are all the richer for it.