Label: Calligram Records, 2024
Personnel - Geof Bradfield: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, mbira; Greg Ward: alto saxophone; Anna Webber: tenor saxophone, flutes; Ben Goldberg: clarinet, contra alto clarinet; Derrick Gardner: trumpet; Russ Johnson: trumpet; Norman Palm: trombone; Momo Hasselbrink Seko: french horn; Scott Hesse: guitar; Clark Sommers: bass; Dana Hall: drums; Gregory Beyer: berimbau, mbira, marimba, percussion.
Chicago-based saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Geof Bradfield assembles a top-notch crew for his most ambitious album to date, Colossal Abundance. This project serves as a meditation on the complex interplay of wealth—material, intellectual, and spiritual—and the poverty that contrasts it in today’s world. Bradfield’s tenth album as a leader straddles contemporary jazz while drawing from a rich palette of influences, including African music, southern blues, Caribbean grooves, and more.
The journey opens with the folk exoticism of the traditional Shona mbira song “Mahororo”, a mbira-berimbau piece that reflects Bradfield’s curiosity for and connection with the Zimbabwean music. This world music vibe is soon transferred into John Coltrane’s classic “Lonnie’s Lament”, reimagined with a sextuple meter that shifts to cushion a soulful, Grant Green-like solo from guitarist Scott Hesse. Following him are Bradfield, whose tenor sax smolders with clear articulation, and altoist Greg Ward, whose joyfully volatile discourse finds compelling support from the percussive backdrop.
Another African-flavored number, “Tuku”— a dedication to the late Zimbabwean guitarist Oliver Mtukudzi—flows softly in 3/4 time with an irresistible, dance-like quality that feels dreamlike at times. Bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Dana Hall provide vivid comfort for trumpeter Derrick Gardner’s melodic facility. Both “Kaleidoscope” and “Mrs. Parker of K.C.” delve into odd-meter; the former initially highlights the agile melodic patterns of flutist Anna Webber over a 5/4 tapestry woven by guitar and contra alto clarinet, while the latter, a Jaki Byard composition, features Hesse’s fluid bends, twists, and harmonic colors over a 14-beat bass cycle. Byard dedicated this piece to Charlie Parker’s mother, and Bradfield mirrors that intention with his own “Adelaide Bailey”, unfolding in seven with Ben Goldberg’s sinuously angular contra alto clarinet, joined by melodic horn fills and responsive drumming. Trumpeter Russ Johnson also delivers before the ensemble’s richness takes enter stage.
Following a vibrant post-bop rendition of Wayne Shorter’s “United”, the album closes with two extraordinary blues pieces: the contemplative “Gandanga Blues”, with its enchanting pulse and emotive solos from bass flute and muted trumpet, and Henry Threadgill’s “Bermuda Blues”, which offers a celebratory reggae-infused Caribbean groove. Colossal Abundance bears the marks of Bradfield’s openness, curiosity, and fearlessness, making it a tasteful opus certainly worth getting lost in.
Favorite Tracks:
03 - Adelaide Bailey ► 04 - Tuku ► 09 - Gandanga Blues