TRIO EAST
RICH THOMPSON / CLAY JENKINS / JEFF CAMPBELL
STOP-START
“...improvisation that sizzles...great for
intelligent fans of well-played bop.”
— Gregory J. Robb, Jazz Improv, Summer 2004
New York, NY – Sons of Sound proudly announces
the February 22, 2005 release of Stop-Start, a
horn trio recording led by the drummer the Boston
Herald calls “the powerhouse who drove the
Basie sound.”
Stop-Start features the interplay of three veteran
instrumental masters, collectively known as Trio
East: Rich Thompson on drums, Clay Jenkins on trumpet,
and Jeff Campbell on bass.
Rich Thompson joined the faculty of the Eastman
School of Music in 1996 while touring with the
Count Basie Orchestra. He is a member of the Eastman
Jazz Trio with Harold Danko and has also toured
and recorded with the Glenn Miller and Nelson Riddle
Orchestras, Tito Puente, Marian McPartland, Dizzy
Gillespie, Joe Pass, Clark Terry, and James Williams.
Also a member of the Eastman faculty, Clay Jenkins
has toured and/or recorded with the acclaimed Clayton/Hamilton
Jazz Orchestra and the big bands of Stan Kenton,
Buddy Rich, and Count Basie, as well as small groups
led by Harold Danko, Joe La Barbara, and Kim Richmond.
Jeff Campbell performs regularly with the Rochester
Philharmonic Orchestra, Marian McPartland, and
Gene Bertoncini, and is also a member of the Eastman
Jazz Trio.
Inspired by jazz tradition, the program includes
originals and interpretations of compositions by
John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Ornette Coleman,
Lee Morgan, and Mal Waldron. “Up Against
The Wall,” a Coltrane blues, cooks along
at a medium-slow tempo that emphasizes the absence
of piano and allows the trio plenty of space to
interact. Likewise, “26-2” by the same
composer provides a traditional framework for the
Trio to explore. “Stop-Start” by Lee
Morgan challenges the trio to move between Latin
and straight-ahead rhythms to earn its spot as
the album’s title cut.
Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con-Alma” lends
itself to many interpretations, and in this setting
the intro is extended with a tone-color treatment
of the beginning harmonic ideas. Jenkins slips
from the solo into the melody with seamless precision.
A master of the brushes, Thompson is featured on “Happy
House,” a lesser-known 21-bar tune (19 bars
on the head out) by Ornette Coleman.
Three Clay Jenkins compositions are featured. “Tray-Bo” is
written in AAB form and utilizes asymmetric phrases,
beginning with a duo format of trumpet and drums,
with the bass joining during the B section. “In
Fine Line” has become one of the Trio’s
signature pieces, and features a technically challenging
musical bassline pitted against a demanding trumpet
melody. A four-bar drum phrase that presents a
phasing or skewing effect makes the piece sound
as if three different lines are interwoven. “Late
Bloomer” provides an open framework for the
Trio to explore alternate sound possibilities in
the drums and bass during a long intro. Campbell
foreshadows the ostinato bassline, and the Trio
builds from trumpet solo into a duo and, finally,
an intense trio exchange.
Mal Waldron’s “Soul Eyes” is
the only ballad featured, in dedication to the
composer, who passed away only a few weeks before
the December 2002 recording session.
Sons of Sound is an independent jazz label founded
in 1997 with the goal of bringing fine instrumental
jazz to a younger audience. The label supports
music education through The Commission Project,
a nonprofit based in Rochester, NY, through which
it also underwrites residencies at Princeton University,
including Bob Mintzer in 2003-2004 and Jimmy Heath
in 2004-2005. Thompson, Jenkins and Campbell, all
faculty members at the Eastman School of Music,
join their Eastman colleagues Bob Sneider and Paul
Hofmann (Interconnection) and Dave Mancini (Salt
Peanuts) on the label.
For additional information see the label’s
website at http://sonsofsound.com. For more about
The Commission Project, see http://tcp-music.org/
and http://swingnjazz.org.
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CDs, full press kits, color and b&w jpgs available
upon request.
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