Musillami, Michael Trio +4 / Mettle
Album: Mettle   Collection:Jazz
Artist:Musillami, Michael Trio +4   Added:Feb 2012
Label:Playscape Recordings  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2012-02-12 Pull Date: 2012-04-15 Charts: Jazz
Week Ending: Apr 15 Apr 8 Apr 1 Mar 25 Mar 18 Mar 11 Mar 4 Feb 26
Airplays: 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 2

Recent Airplay
1. Jul 13, 2021: No Cover, No Minimum (rebroadcast from Mar 2, 2012)
Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - Vi. Liv's In Beantown
4. Oct 19, 2012: No Cover, No Minimum
Piana Dei Greci
2. Jan 08, 2016: Rebop
Thuggish Mornings
5. Apr 13, 2012: No Cover, No Minimum
Thuggish Mornings
3. Jan 04, 2013: No Cover, No Minimum: Top Jazz of 2012
Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - V. High Likeability Factor
6. Apr 10, 2012: Rebop
Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - Vi. Liv's In Beantown

Album Review
Fo
Reviewed 2012-02-12
MICHAEL MUSILLAMI TRIO + 4: Mettle
Playscape, 2012

AVANT-MODERN JAZZ – Guitarist Musillami, always a forward thinker, expands his well-established trio into a talent-packed septet. Musillami’s beautifully-balanced arrangements keep it tight, walking close enough to straight-up modern jazz to be appealing but with a sly subversive streak too. Tracks 3-10 are a suite. Really good stuff.

Michael Musillami : guitar
Joe Fonda : bass
George Schuller : drums
Russ Johnson : trumpet
Jeff Lederer, Ned Rothenberg : saxes + clarinets
Matt Moran : vibes

Fo’s Picks: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11

1. 6:58 – moody intro; guitar stretch, then all trade off over quick drums. Yeah!
2. 14:13 – postmodern walkin’ blues: carefully layered bits, solid solos from all; slips into open space for a trumpet/guitar faceoff towards the end
3. 9:26 – several episodes, mostly uptempo & tense but with calmer breaks
4. 6:26 – hip stroll falls apart in trumpet solo; slumps for guitar/bass scribbles
5. 6:31 – spacey intro; bold, tango-esque tune with vibraphone & sax solos
6. 1:23 – serene trumpet/guitar interlude
7. 2:41 – jabbing solo bass interlude, tense and muscular with much vocalizing
8. 6:15 – dig it! bright, upbeat groove, rolling solos all around, great drums
9. 1:18 – solo drum break, rolls
10. 1:20 – suite wraps up: upbeat statement, then slumps to an end
11. 12:06 – sneaky walk, very cool: great ensemble work, a series of sly solos

[ Fo ] - February 2012

Track Listing
1. Piana Dei Greci   6. Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - Iv. Nebraska
2. Blues For The Wounded Warrior   7. Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - V. High Likeability Factor
3. Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - I. Iceland   8. Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - Vi. Liv's In Beantown
4. Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - Ii. Bald Yet Hip   9. Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - Vii. Moe
5. Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - Iii. Piazzolla On The Porch   10. Summer Suite: Twenty Ten - Viii. Barnstable News
  11. Thuggish Mornings