Label: Whirlwind Recordings, 2020
Personnel - Philip Dizack: trumpet: Will Vinson: alto saxophone; Sean Wayland: keys; Orlando Le Fleming: acoustic and electric bass; Kush Abadey: drums; Nate Wood: drums.
New York-based British bassist/composer Orlando Le Fleming pushes the envelope on the second installment of his Romantic Funk project, The Unfamiliar, a deep incursion into jazz-funk, which marks his debut on the Whirwind Recordings. The funk and jazz lexicons intertwine and consolidate with wisdom in this exciting tribute to the fusion of the 1980s. The album was recorded in studio after all its original compositions have been developed in the course of an extended residency at the emblematic 55 Bar in New York. Le Fleming, whose writing and playing are as much astute as they are focused, performs in the company of close cohorts - trumpeter Philip Dizack, alto saxophonist Will Vinson, keyboardist Sean Wayland, and drummers Kush Abadey and Nate Wood.
The album's opener, “I’ll Tell You What it is Later”, is a buoyant fusion inspired by Miles Davis and carries a deep-funky, Herbie Hancock-like groove enhanced by sprightly popping bass lines and sustained synth atmospheres. The horn players cooperate in relaxed unisons, intensifying the polyrhythmic feel before unleashing enthralling improvisations. Whereas Dizack’s post-bop routes conjure Miles in a beautiful way, Vinson’s searing lyrical statement sweeps effortlessly over the rich rhythmic tapestry. This track segues into “Waynes”, a soul-funk-jazz hybridity with more settlements than collisions. The tune, inspired by saxophonist Wayne Shorter and guitarist Wayne Krantz, thrives with slippery, conversational tradeoffs between trumpet and saxophone, and then welcomes Wayland’s slightly dissonant synth infiltrations and bold clusters for a more adventurous effect.
There are other kinetic funk numbers delineated with vivid grooves at their cores and pure melodic grit atop: “FOMO Blues” and “Mischievous” are notable examples. Having the versatile Nate Wood at the center here, the former piece pulsates with passion and energy, and everything floats over a rhythm section that deserves applause. The latter number is no less mesmerizing, oozing reed-killing incursions and managing to interlock slick tempo variations. Although these are tightly-packed pieces, they’re never too strained or dense or impenetrable.
Yet, the bassist also incorporates laid-back pieces in the program. They are not only imbued with collective performing intuition and startling intimacy, but also open spaces that the musicians can fill. An example is “The Myth of Progress”, an impeccably structured vamp-like piece in nine with expressive unisons working as bridges for lyrical solos, including bass. Then there’s “Struggle Session”, which comes at you as a rubato poem majestically propelled by Abadey’s inventive drumming.
With the group members on the same wavelength, the music works as it should.
Grade B+
Favorite Tracks:
01 - I’ll Tell You What it is Later ► 03 - The Myth of Progress ► 05 - FOMO Blues