Kelly Rossum - Line Reviews

Line features a new version of Rossum’s quintet, this one without a piano. Kelly described the transition: “I was getting deeper and deeper into the music of Ornette Coleman and his piano-less quartet. So I began hearing music without any keyboard accompaniment and writing similar ideas for my band." His 2004 release, Renovation, featured Kelly Rossum playing trumpet with Chris Thomson on tenor saxophone, Chris Lomheim on piano and electric Rhodes piano, Michael O’Brien on bass and electric bass, and JT Bates on drums. In the new quintet, Chris Bates replaces O’Brien, who recently moved to the Big Apple. Kelly dropped the piano and added another tenor to join Chris Thomson. "I really wanted to add some depth to the sound and fill out some voicings from a compositional standpoint; thus the idea of two tenors". He called on his old friend Woody Witt, a Houston-based monster on tenor who was on Rossum's 2002 release, Party’s Over/Begun.

The man with the horn ... and the hair, Kelly Rossum, who went to Bangkok to teach free-jazz improvisation, is no stranger to innovation. And he brings his compositional and leadership talent to bear on his new release called Line. It is a concept album exploring free harmonies through melodic development. But these are defiantly non-euclidean lines that may be parallel for a while and then intersect. The entire album is a continuous line that can be dissected into parts or consumed as a whole.

Line opens with a short up-tempo piece, "Line I," where Kelly solos after the brief initial phrase or melodic line. Scattered among the CD's dozen tracks are four other numbered "line" fragments, II through V, each using the same initial phrase and then featuring a different soloist, concluding with the drum solo (“Line V”) that ties up the “line” and closes the CD. There is also a complete version of “Line” in the middle of the recording, where the ideas from these fragments get reworked and woven into a complete work. Witt delivers a scorching tenor solo on that one!

When I first listened to the opening to “La Vita a Roma” it reminded be of Copland's “Fanfare for the Common Man.” I asked Kelly if his classical training comes to bear when he does the layout of the initial structure of this music. He said, “Absolutely, but not consciously. I had quite a bit of classical training during my university studies and I have retained many of the compositional strategies found in modern classical music. When I compose, I don’t try and fit the music into any given genre or predetermined framework. Take this traditional jazz structure for example: melody, solos, drum solo and final melody. Some of my music will follow this layout, but most of the selections follow what I believe each piece needs.”

“Seduction” opens with Rossum using the plunger to great effect over the lumbering bass and drums. The tenors and trumpet intertwine lines in an old-jazz southern way. This sounds very New Orleans to me. There are “come hither” melodic lines but the rhythmic motion implies a predatory prowl. JT Bates makes those tom-toms sing. The least structured thing on the CD, “Places of the Mindful,” is a very eerie piece that starts with sounds resembling loons echoing in the distance and includes a rough prolonged bowed bass with overtones and harmonics that sound almost like Tuvan throat singing. As the horns play softly, the tune progresses organically without an obvious pulse. It is engaging in its subtlety and serene. The effect is calming. It is also the lowest volume tune on the CD and the next track, “Line V,” is jarring in contrast with its opening phrase followed by a volcanic drum solo. It's like the band lulled the listeners into a trance-like state only to jerk the rug out from under them. I've listened to this CD several times and I'm always a little startled by that juxtaposition.

This is Rossum's most satisfying work to date that showcases his compositional skills while still providing plenty of solo space for these remarkable versatile musicians. Although the mood varies from piece to piece, the CD is a cohesive whole, rather then a random collection of tunes. This is in frequent rotation at my house and will certainly make my best of 2006 list.



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