MARCUS STRICKLAND: Idiosyncracies
Strick Muzik, 2009

MODERN JAZZ – Hot trio of saxophonist Strickland, twin brother E.J. on drums and Ben Williams on bass, in an eclectic set split between originals and covers of Bjork, Andre 3000, Oumou Sangare and other surprising sources. In keeping with the diverse material, the trio manages to find a variety of textures. Solid modern-mainstream stuff.

* * * * | Fo’s Picks: 1, 3, 4, 8, 10

1. 5:04 – chunky bop groove: busy drums, sax hops down the line, solid bass
2. 7:04 – steady march: philosophical sax roams as bass comments
3. 6:41 – Bjork tune: intriguing groove, sharp-edged clarinet
4. 2:43 – cool bass/drum groove here, overdubbed saxes are really catchy
5. 6:18 – insistent sax over uptempo bop glide; solid bass solo too
6. 4:21 – Andre 3000 tune: quietly mysterious; sax explores simple melody
7. 5:43 – Jaco Pastorius tune: bright and fluttering with soprano sax; episodic
8. 3:52 – snappy uptempo theme; bass/drum tradeoffs, then sax runs with it
9. 3:10 – Stevie Wonder tune: bright bashing drums, throaty horn, runs into…
10. 8:19 – low bass solo, then flowing African tune with inquisitive sax
11. 6:57 – upbeat and folksy, great drums & stereo surprises [2 minutes]… 20 seconds of silence, then an upbeat boppish romp

[ Fo ] 12/26/09