Greg Ward's Rogue Parade - Dion's Quest

Label: Sugah Hoof Records, 2023

Personnel - Greg Ward: alto saxophone; Matt Gold: guitar, synth; Dave Miller: guitar; Matt Ulery: bass; Quin Kirchner: drums.

Chicago-based alto saxophonist and composer Greg Ward, an empathetic sideman (Makaya McCraven, Mike Reed) and respected bandleader, blends musical styles with extraordinary facility. The quintet lineup of his Rogue Parade project remains unaltered, featuring guitarists Matt Gold and Dave Miller, bassist Matt Ulery and drummer Quin Kirchner - all musicians with whom he has been enjoying fruitful collaborative partnerships throughout the years.

The follow-up to the ensemble’s debut Stomping Off From Greenwood (Greenleaf Music, 2017) is called Dion’s Quest and its narrative inspiration stems from Ward’s personal and artistic life. “Crimson Clay”, for example, is encouraged and energized by Ward’s frequent trips to South Africa. Advancing in five with resolute if defiant rock-inspired riffs, this enticing opener contains agile unison playing during its thematic development, time shifts, and compellingly improvised statements by Miller and the bandleader.

The sturdy guitar sound of Gold is in evidence on “Dashing Toward First Light”, whose pulse and touch draws from funk and fusion alike. “Noir Noveaux” displays a more relaxed theme upon which the musicians breeze through its chilled-out pulse. There’s an unexpected deceleration in tempo and a notable blues increase in the tone by the end, demonstrating the connection and interplay put at the service of the group’s identity.

A cry for the George Floyd and the pandemic losses, as well as hope gained by the 2020 election results, are expressed in the form of a blues on “Blues of the Earth”. This selection is wired with rapid-fire Hendrixian extemporaneity. Proving a welcome contrast with the latter, “Bravo Constantine” is soulful, asymmetric and actively propulsive. Yet the bold angles and broad-toned rock demeanor come back with the penultimate track, “Beware of the Oh EEE’s”, which has Miller and Ward expressing their thoughts ardently over the staunch wall created by Gold, Ulery and Kirchner. The CD concludes on a hopeful, positive note with the nearly prayerful rubato of “Ocean of Faith”.

Rogue Parade has been road-tested and the rapport between its members is instinctive. 

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Crimson Clay ► 05 - Bravo Constantine ► 07 - Beware of the Oh EEE’s

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Greg Ward's Rogue Parade - Stomping Off From Greenwood

Label: Greenleaf Music, 2019

Personnel - Greg Ward: alto saxophone; Matt Gold: guitar; Dave Miller: guitar; Matt Ulery: bass; Quin Kirchner: drums.

Saxophonist Greg Ward has been a ubiquitous presence in the Chicago jazz scene for some years now. He is a terrific bandleader, composer, and arranger and his sophomore Greenleaf album, Stomping Off From Greenwood, features a new quintet with guitarists Matt Gold and Dave Miller, bassist Matt Ulery, and drummer Quin Kirchner. Together, they are Rogue Parade.

The record opens with “Metropolis”, an exciting ode to New York and Chicago, cities that are in the heart of the bandleader. Things are kept intensely contemporary throughout the route, and from its epicenter, located midway between a busy free-funk and floor-filling electronica, branches out guileless breakbeats, rolling guitar ostinatos, and expressive melody. The quieter passages resemble a melodic symphonic rock, oozing into atmospheric moments where the guitarists entwine textural work.

Inspired by boxing, “The Contender” flaunts an odd groove in seven, worthy of the best prog-rock attributes. Ward and Gold deftly delineate their solos, while Kirchner gives wings to his percussive creativity on a strenuous vamp installed after the final theme. A different, quieter route is taken on “The Fourth Reverie”, a spacious cosmic-like enterprise into the unknown marked by atmospheric guitar. A disciplined ebullience returns with “Let Him Live”, a piece showcasing Ward’s rapid-fire phrases diffusing tension over a relentless Afro groove accommodating guitar strokes in counterpoint.

“Black Woods” is one of my favorite compositions and opens with a personal pizzicato statement by Ulery. He later employs arco in support of a more mysterious ride. Collectiveness abounds exemplified by earnest unison phrases in a Paul Motian-esque electric setting that also offers synergistic tradeoffs between saxophone and guitar.

The band transforms “Stardust”, a jazz standard, into a feel-good pop/rock experience with waltzing cadences. Its energy is extended to “Sundown”, whose initial languid tone is reinforced by a detached backbeat and guitar fingerpicking. The song rises amiably, setting a determined yet relaxed mood with circular harmonic movements and plenty of melodies.

Two numbers, “Excerpt1” and “Excerpt2”, resulted from Ward’s daily compositional routines. While the first piece turned out somber, even when the drummer crashes the cymbals with a bold efficiency, the second, more playful in nature, is a mixed bag of African and R&B flavors.

In this recording, Ward’s appealing jazz-centered music takes several directions, achieving cohesiveness as a whole. Regardless of the ambience, his improvisations stand out, eventually ramping up to elevated levels of adventure while seeking new outfits to dress the jazz according to our days.

Grade B+

Favorite Tracks:
03 – The Contender ► 05 – Let Him Live ► 06 – Black Woods

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Greg Ward & 10 Tongues - Touch My Beloved's Thought

Greg Ward: alto saxophone; Keefe Jackson: tenor and baritone saxophones; Tim Haldeman: tenor saxophone; Norman Palm: trombone; Christopher Davis: bass trombone; Russ Johnson: trumpet; Ben LaMarGuy: cornet; Dennis Luxion: piano; Jason Roebke: bass; Marcus Evans: drums.

The ten tunes of Greg Ward’s latest record courageously sought inspiration in Charles Mingus’ 1963 masterpiece “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady”, revealing mature compositional work and striking arrangements. The efficient altoist opens with a notable composition entitled “Daybreak” in which he pulls out a breathtaking improvisation. “Singular Serenade” gives it a final sequence through Luxion’s solo piano. “The Menacing Lean” takes the proportions of a big-band march. An interlude by the reeds anticipates “With All Your Sorrow”, a ballad that avoids stiffness by evolving to a more groovy balance, featuring Palm’s trombone solo. “Grit” and “Round 3” belong to those kinds of enthusiastic shuffles that could be creations of Mingus or Sun Ra. The former composition features Jackson’s penetrating baritone sax while the latter, in a more rocking style, showcases another improvisational rampage, this time by Haldeman on tenor saxophone. Roebke nimbly introduces “Dialogue Of The Black Saint” with the sound of his bass, but it’s Johnson's plunger trumpet solo that takes the lead afterward. "Gather Round, The Revolution Is At Hand", the last and longest tune, exhibits a boisterous collective interaction in order to conclude the evocative album.

Favorite Tracks:
01 – Daybreak ► 09 – Dialogue Of The Black Saint ► 10 – Gather Round, The Revolution Is At Hand

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