Search - Ted Nash :: Still Evolved

Nice going, Ted!

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 09/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's not like this has never been done before. What? Write faux old tunes in previous jazz styles. After all, didn't Wynton practically make a career of doing this for Columbia (and look where it got him--without a contract!).But Ted Nash is doing it differently. Instead of writing original tunes in a particular style--swing, bebop, hard-bop--Nash has done it in ALL jazz styles, from jump to swing to bop to post-bop to free to completely modern. Quite a feat.Does it work? Yes. Gloriously. Why? Because Nash's not trying to slavishly reproduce the styles he's evoking. Instead, he's using them as a kind of jumping off point to plumb their inherent depths. Well, isn't that like musical carpetbagging? you may ask. No. Why not? Because he genuinely admires the styles he's referencing yet has enough musical savvy to avoid "mere" reproduction. There's no facile deconstruction or hip though empty evocation going on here. What we've got instead is a sort of brief history of jazz without having to struggle through the admitted problematic earlier periods presented by the "giants" of each period (which, if we're honest, don't always sound that great compared to modern jazz artists).Heresy? Maybe. But not to these ears. What we're dealing with here is a consummate artistry seldom found except in the most brilliant interpreters.I haven't always been a fan of Ted Nash's projects, but this one works marvelously. Another fine release in this year of jazz opulence."

Mannered, moody and mild

Joanna Daneman | Middletown, DE USA | 09/20/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ah, those smooth old jazz standbys, good old tenor sax and trumpet, with piano, bass and drum backup. Don't you just love those classic be-bop and swing tunes of old? Wait....now, I am not the world's best "name that tune" gamester but I can't identify ANY of these tunes. Ah-HAH! These are retro-originals and the more you listen, the more you realize how amusing this album is. It's listenable jazz in a sendup of styles from be-bop to swing to contemporary jazz.



The first cut, "The Shooting Star"--teams Nash up with Wynton Marsalis. There is a lot of unison playing which, though I like it, makes you wish for more of the improvisational bits in this terrific 6;53 minute work. There was just enough Marsalis to make me notice, not enough to blend, like a tad too little salt in a stew. But the second cut "Jump Start" (with Marcus Printup on trumpet--he alternates cuts with Marsalis) is just what I want to hear--hints of Coltrane and Davis, rich sax, sweet muted trumpet and drums where they belong. Frank Kimbrough on piano in "Jump Start" is slightly thin, but adding color as a perfect accent here, letting the sax dominate the piece.



This is a wonderful jazz CD--a bit subdued, but moody and mannered. I like it for striking a subtle mood when too much"