Intimate Adversary

Reviewed: 2018-12-19
Genre: Jazz
FCCs: none
Review: On his third album, drummer & composer Mouse presents nine songs that have been inspired by a variety of sources, and is a delight to hear. Despite Mouse’s fun with arrangements and words, the release is serious jazz, It moves and shines with an energy that listeners expect from musicians who love their art – a description that seems an apt one for Mouse.
If You Like: Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Burrell, Miles Okazaki, Sonny Rollins
Track Review (favorites denoted by *):
*1/ Barney’s Fife (4:41) – drums start> uptempo jam> soaring trumpet solo> wailing sax solo> quick stop
2/ Old, New, & Used Testaments (5:16) – horns start> midtempo jam> guitar solo> muted trumpet solo> slow fade
*3/ Intimate Adversary (8:00) – bowed bass solo starts> midtempo jam reminiscent of Sketches of Spain> slinky sax solo> muted trumpet solo> slows to slow jam> fade
*4/ Adamant Inversary (4:54) – bass starts> uptempo jam> guitar solo> trumpet solo> sax solo> uptempo jam> guitar solo> muted trumpet solo> bass solo> uptempo jam> quick stop
5/ Nineteen Sixty-Five (6:43) – horns start> midtempo jam> guitar solo> muted trumpet solo> sax solo> bass solo> midtempo jam> quick stop
*6/ Twas Never Thus (6:13) – sax starts> slow jam> slow fade
*7/ Jacomo (8:44) – rocking bluesy guitar starts> uptempo rocking jam> sizzling sax solo> uptempo jam> trumpet solo> uptempo jam> drum solo> uptempo jam> quick stop
*8/ Three Heads Are better Than One (3:55) – trumpet starts> uptempo jam> quick stop
9/ Three Free (6:58) – drums start> midtempo jam with drums up front> offbeat sax solo> drum solo> quick fade