Label: Whirlwind Recordings, 2020
Personnel - Walter Smith III: tenor saxophone; Matthew Stevens: guitar; Micah Thomas: piano; Linda May Han Oh: double bass; Nate Smith: drums.
Saxophonist Walter Smith III reappears side by side with guitarist Matthew Stevens in the revived In Common group, two years after the release of its eponymous album. In Common 2 remains a quintet but features a reformed rhythm team with emerging pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Nate Smith on board. Yet, the concept behind the project remains intact: inelaborate forms, direct and concise melodies, short durations, and a straightforward approach.
The late trumpeter Roy Hargrove penned the opener “Roy Allan”, originally a funky modal song that here takes the shape of a miniature sax-guitar duet. The next track, “Lotto”, was the piece that buoyed me most. Harmonically special and rhythmically captivating, this collective improvisation based on a theme by Stevens has the melody bouncing into view with a laid-back feel. Things evolve into a colorful exploratory practice before ending up in a groovy vamp.
“Cowboy” exudes a beautiful folk charisma and the group delivers it with the help of Ms. Oh’s sly rhythmic drive. Stevens takes the lead during the first section and then it’s Thomas who shines with a highly engaging discourse that expresses his first-rate pianistic qualities.
Both Smith III’s “Clem” and Stevens’ “Provinces” share a taste for pastoral chords and sympathetic melody, and yet they feel modern.. The former, inspired by a character of the video game Walking Dead, is deftly brushed by Nate, whereas the latter, evoking memories of its author's childhood in Canada, nearly falls into a marching cadence as per nimble snare maneuvers.
Written in 5/4, “Van Der Linde” is another video game-inspired piece by Smith III, whose warm individual language can be largely enjoyed on the riff-based “General George Washington”. The exploration goes further with “Opera”, a polyrhythmic effort that creates contrasting tones by setting serene melodies against a brisk electronica-like pulsation, and “Type Rider”, whose dialoguing sax-guitar rendezvous finds extra groove in an expedient club/dance-like piano ostinato.
Smith III and Stevens culled inspiration from their own imagination as well as from the comprehensive musical universe that inspire their work. Hence, In Common 2 is replete with magnificent ideas.
Grade A-
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Lotto ► 03 - Cowboy ► 09 - Opera