Label: Sunnyside Records, 2022
Personnel - Sam Allee: piano; Rufus Reid: bass; Duduka da Fonseca (#2-10); Kenneth Salters (#1,11) + The Sirius Quartet - Fung Chern Hwei: violin; Gregor Huebner: violin; Ron Lawrence: viola; Jeremy Harmon: cello.
At 78 and with nearly six decades into his career, the American bassist Rufus Reid (Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Eddie Harris) has nothing to prove, but keeps pushing the envelope of his wise playing. He touts a new album on the Sunnyside label alongside pianist Sam Allee and drummer Duduka da Fonseca - trio mates he’s been playing with since 2011 - and The Sirius Quartet (on selected tracks). The first collaboration between the bassist and this acclaimed string ensemble happened in 2017 with Territorial Dance, which came out on the vinyl-dedicated label Newvelle Records. In truth, all eight compositions chosen for that recording reappear on Celebration, plus three new pieces: two of them (the ones bookending the album) featuring drummer Kenneth Salters.
Reid’s “Celebration” greets us like a welcoming note, vamping with great spirit while making an asymmetric figure the core of its texture. Sometimes reminding us of Kenny Barron’s post-bop albums from the ’80s and ’90s, we can hear strings shining through and feel the jazz mobility of Allee injecting freedom in a few bars. Salters trades sixes with the band before rounding out the time for the final theme statement. The remaining new piece is “The Rise of the Row”, one of the two compositions by Allee, where Reid bends and slides his notes with intense virtuosity.
His lucid and tasteful playing, both in the accompaniment and improvisation, is never in question, and the three Coltrane-inspired pieces on this album can confirm that. “This I Ask of You” opens with the strings immersed in effective contrapuntal pizzicato before flowing with a romantic tango-ish feel; “It’s Time to Shout it Out”, based on "Resolution" from the masterpiece A Love Supreme, alternates a dreamy and modal spirituality with an unearthly swinging flow; and “Tranescape” is an inescapable ballad propelled by the soft sounds of Da Fonseca’s brushed skins and cymbals.
The rendition of Cedar Walton's “Cedar’s Blues” is a vibrantly swinging tour de force that provides joyful momentum, whereas “One for Amos” (bassist Sam Jones dedication to the legendary jazz club owner Amos Kaune), is infused with a smooth candor in the blues. Also making part of the tasty program is Reid’s “Celestial Dance”, which first appeared on his 2003 quintet album The Gait Keeper. In this current version, the trio shifts and sails tempo with ease, ending up in a rubato meditation.
Reid was gifted with the grace of swinging and grooving, even when merely ‘walking’ his bass. His experience and sound make every note he plays speak the essence of jazz.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Celebration ► 04 - It’s Time to Shout it Out ► 06 - Tranescape