Monday , March 18 2024
Highly organic, the recording is a homespun jam session with improvised chord movements.

Music Review: Carol Morgan Quartet – ‘Post Cool Vol. 1: The Night Shift’

Improvising phrases on the trumpet is Carol Morgan‘s specialty. The music on her offering, Post Cool Vol. 1, is personal, expressing her vision of what a jam session should be like, with each musician in her quartet contributing to the overall flow of the tracks. Decisions to add a bar of notes, a phrase, or a melodic pattern demonstrate spontaneity in the vane of Miles Davis as the musicians move in and out of the progressions while being conscientious of being on the same wavelength. Little feels scripted in the music, though keeping in harmony with one another is a priority for Morgan and her group.

post-cool-cdThe jiggling notes of Morgan’s trumpet scribble vibrant streaks across “On a Misty Night,” but the instrument withdraws intermittently to make room for improvised parts performed by Martin Wind on bass and Matt Wilson on drums, who dominate a few bars. The outcome is a smooth, frothy mixture as the musicians jam freely, projecting their individual voices with gusto. Autonomy is a main ingredient in the compositions as the quartet hones a tight rapport, creating a dialogue that is personalized and exposes the audience to their individual temperaments.

“Strollin'” features the eloquent bowing of Wind’s bass – who is fluent in the bebop lingo – while Morgan’s trumpet and Joel Frahm’s tenor sax perform side by side in unison. The exotic tingles of the percussion grazing along “A Night in Tunisia” are fringed in the frilly toots of the trumpet and sax, coursing a playful dance. Cymbals splash sporadically; they add tuneful surprises throughout the track. The fluid swells of “Night” induce a calming effect on the listener, changing to a somber mood in “Autumn Leaves” as the slow spinning wails of Morgan’s trumpet are adorned in a steady pulse of drum strikes and moaning bass thrums.

Each musician contributes to the dialogue, personalizing the music and translating their individual thoughts into the scores. Highly organic, the recording is a homespun jam session with improvised chord movements as the musicians remain conscientious of where the others are at any given moment. The quartet performs as a tight unit in sync with one another’s thoughts and aware of each other’s space as though taking cues from their predecessor, Miles Davis.

Musicians:

Carol Morgan – trumpet, Joel Frahm – tenor saxophone, Martin Wind – bass, Matt Wilson – drums

Tracklisting:

“Strollin’,” “A Night in Tunisia,” “Night,” “On a Misty Night,” “A Song for Mom,” “Autumn Leaves”

About susanfrancesny

Born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in eastern Long Island.

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