Bird of Paradise by Marcus Printup offres Quartet NEUF

Performer Notes:

• Trumpeter Marcus Printup has established himself over a decade as one of the brightest stars on the jazz trumpet. With this recording, he shows promise as a bop stylist by paying homage to the legendary Charlie Parker, as ten of the eleven tracks come from Parkers repertoire. Saxophonist Ted Nash, himself a young and established performer, plays mostly alto and some tenor sax, with Japanese bassist Kengo Nakamura and drummer Shinnosuke Takahashi
• held over from the previous Printup Steeplechase CD Peace in the Abstract. There is no pianist, but on five selections Riza Hequibal plays the harp, an interesting substitution for the 88s. The fare is predictable as far as arrangements, but the difference is the individualism of Printup and Nash. They have both studied the masters like Clifford Brown and Kenny Dorham, or Parker and Sonny Rollins, respectively. Printup has a refined approach, a bit on the cool side, while Nash tends to embrace risk, and stretches harmonic parameters. Everyone is in synch for a picture perfect rendition of the tricky and fleet "Donna Lee," while they trade riffs during "The Hymn" (aka "Tranes Blues" via Eddie Jeffersons vocalese,) and use more deft, witty counterpoint on "Confirmation." Of the harp pieces, they downshift "Nows the Time" to half-speed with Nash on tenor, reharmonize "All the Things You Are" as Parker did with the title track; Hequibal comps as would a jazz pianist, and they do two takes of the tender ballad "Lover Man," Printup playing with or without mute. The unhurried feel of this session is noticeable, as the calm side of bop is the watchword. The recording is bookended by the lone original, a restrained swinger "Stupendous," and the modal bass-buoyed finale, the lesser-known "Bird Feathers." While not a magnum opus or the breakthrough effort everyone knows is within Printups grasp, this is a solid offering that pads an already substantive and growing discography. ~ Michael G. Nastos

Professional Reviews: JazzTimes (p.86) - "Printup and Nash solo with more tonal and timbral variety, never sacrificing sheer velocity for expressive sounds and fewer notes. Its a creatively fertile way to revisit Birds music."

Format: CD (1 Disc); Stereo

Country: Denmark

Studio/Live: Studio

Release Date: 13 November, 2007

Label: SteepleChase

Dimensions: 12.6 x 14.7 x 1 centimeters (0.06 kg)