Michael Dease, widely admired as one of the world’s foremost jazz trombonists but rather less-known as an educator, dons his professorial garb on Spartan Strong, supervising a splendid session by a special corps of undergrads (and students in his trombone studio) who together comprise the MSU (Michigan State University) Jazz Trombones, 23 members in all when one counts Dease and the group’s half-dozen bass trombones.
Dease lets the students have full rein, soloing only twice (on Steve Turre’s smoothly walking “Groove Blues” and Oscar Pettiford’s fast-paced and dazzling closing theme, “Blues in the Closet”). There are brief respites from the trombone avalanche courtesy of guest artists Benny Benack III (who sings on the standard…
Tag Archive: Michael Dease
Jazz trios featuring a horn, bass and drums get right to the core of musical expression. With, most commonly, a saxophone — see Sonny Rollins’ blueprint for the horn and trio setting, the 1957 Contemporary Records album Way Out West — the music flows freely. The players do not need to chase chords around. The result is a stretching of the melodies with freewheeling rhythmic finesse.
Trombone, bass and drums outings are rare, but Michael Dease goes for it on CD 1 of City Life: Music of Gregg Hill , his third outing in which he tips his hat to the composer. Bassist Linda May Han Oh (aka Linda Oh) and drummer Jeff Tain Watts are his rambunctious fellow city dwellers. On CD 2, Dease again employs Oh and Watts, with the addition of pianist Geoffrey Keezer…