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With the current state
of jazz being what it is, there tends to be few reasons to be
optimistic. Marcus Strickland is one of them. Twi-Life,
Strickland’s third album as a band leader and the first on his
self-published label, Strick Muzik, is a fulfilling two-disc set.
The first disc features the high powered Marcus Strickland Quartet
playing seven originals and one cover. The second set is an
introduction to Strick’s unique quartet (sax, drums, electric bass
and guitar). It offers substance for the heavy jazz listener and
the ear reared on, perhaps, more contemporary sounds. The album
begins with the Wayne Shorter classic “Oriental Folk Song” where the
trio straight-up burns, seemingly influenced less by Wayne and more
the mayhem-sounds of the venerable John Coltrane Quartet. The second
tune, “Beast Within The Beauty”, showcases Strickland’s true gift to
the world – his ability to pen challenging, compelling, dope music.
His imaginative mind is running in full gear, moving him to play the
head on soprano sax and the meat of the song in tenor. This may not
be an earth-shattering revolution in song composition, but it’s rare
these days. And the technique was essential to the song in helping Strickland paint his picture and tell his
story. “Thump and Cadence” frolics and showcases some tremendous
bass and piano playing by the best and most versatile young bassist,
Vicente Archer, and the best and most versatile young pianist,
Robert Glasper…not to mention incredible drumming – on this tune and
throughout the album – by Strickland’s twin-brother E.J, who
supplies a groove to even the more straight-ahead tunes. Perhaps the
highlight of the album is “Brooklyn Street Fair”, a complex song
with shifts and changes, showing the quartet’s superior
musicianship, as they’re individually and collectively completely in
sync with one another.
The Strickland Twins are joined by Lage Lund (guitar) and Brad
Jones (electric bass) on the second disc, where the music is (once
again) skillfully written and shows Strickland’s desire to stretch
out creatively (something that seems to be sorely missing among the
young jazz musicians). While Strick has all the creative control in
the world, though, he went for a more a commercially accepted sound
on this set – making it easier for the masses to dig it, but
possibly alienating a few aficionados. It’s an interesting dilemma
that today’s young musicians must navigate as they attempt to grow
their audience while maintaining loyal supporters. There is cause
for a reasonable amount of concern if this is the direction of the
new age fusion band, since other artist’s and bands are adopting the
same format and band make up. Still, there are positive moments on
this disc, which are enough to give it multiple listens.
Ultimately, Marcus Strickland is the future of jazz and this album
brims with optimism.
-- Ryan Diggs |
