Label: Make Records, 2019

Personnel - Chris Speed: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Shane Endsley: trumpet; Billy Mohler: bass; Nate Wood: drums.

Billy Mohler’s credits in the music industry are impressive. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied electric and acoustic bass, he became a renowned composer, songwriter, and producer, working in different musical spheres such as pop, rock, and R&B. Lately, Mohler has made the decision to return to jazz, his strongest passion, and release an album, Focus!, where he shows compositional abilities and a strong sense of line as part of the rhythmic thrust inherent to the material. His muscular, chordless quartet is stocked with expressive colorists such as tenor saxophonist Chris Speed (Claudia Quintet, Alas No Axis, Endangered Blood, Human Feel), trumpeter Shane Endsley (Kneebody, Steve Coleman) and drummer Nate Wood (Kneebody, Donny McCaslin), with whom he forms a proactive rhythm team.

The album comprises eight self-penned tunes, whose elasticity and rhythmic glee bring the best in these artists, who correspond with flair and audacity.

“Deconstruction” leads off the album with an animated groove and crisp unisons, but it’s not the only forward-moving piece on the record that arrives full of life. “Distant Star”, for example, is grounded in restless bass moves and effervescent drums that fire the imagination of the horn players. By the end, Wood is invited to infuse bright streams of percussion. Bestowing a similar gripping energy, we have “Van’s Jam”, a raw and groovy and shifting piece fueled by stunning dynamics and improvisations, and “Visible Light”, whose expressive elation - slightly Latinized - is worthy of send us out and hit the dancefloor. Sweeping and zigzagging from left to right, Speed and Endsley interact with acumen, speeding through the fast rhythmic lanes provided by the rhythm team. These are tunes crafted with both discipline and adventure.

Even balancing the energy with thoughtful reflection, “Even Tide” and “Coin” are still different in nature. The former kicks in with lone bass, assuring an attractive languid pace through a well-rooted riff that repeats throughout. In turn, the latter, more atmospheric and minimalist, is designed with deep arco playing, subdued yet crucial mallet work for stability, and pondered lines from clarinet and trumpet.

The medium-tempo “Prairie Flower” has round thick bass lines and mallet-colored drumming paving the way for gorgeous horn riffery. If the melody draws on folk, then the overall disposition is not very far from avant-garde epics.

Great part of the pleasure of this disc stems from the way how grooves and melodies dance together. There’s no mystery here, only pure fun. And this recording, besides affirming Mohler as a valid jazz groover, is amply rewarding to behold.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Prairie Flower ► 05 - Van’s Jam ► 06 - Even Tide