You have to admire itinerant working musicians
who manage to put together fresh sounding recording
dates that show their broader interests, while
at the same time taking care of business. Ray Marchica
was the house drummer for the Rosie O’Donnell
Show for six years, but while that may have been
his bread and butter, he’s also been pushing
forward with his own career. In
the Ring, the followup
to his debut, A Different
View, doesn’t exactly
push any boundaries or stretch any limits, but this
energetic mainstream date shows Marchica is more
than just a capable session player.
Returning from A Different
View is guitarist Rodney
Jones, an underappreciated straightahead guitarist
who has worked with artists including Lena Horne,
Dizzy Gillespie, and Jimmy McGriff. Fleshing out
the quartet are bassist Lonnie Plaxico, who’s
worked with everyone from Jack DeJohnette to Art
Blakey, Cassandra Wilson, and Steve Coleman; and
tenor saxophonist Teodross Avery, who has seemed
on the verge of a major breakthrough more than
once, but has never quite made the leap.
Despite their relative youth, these
players are remarkably seasoned in a variety
of styles, and it shows on In the Ring, which Marchica says is
meant to reproduce the live experience, with more
room to stretch out than his first effort. They
tackle a number of standards, as well as two tunes
each by Jones and Marchica.
Mainstream doesn’t mean uninventive, and
from the opening salvo of Charlie Parker’s “Billy’s
Bounce,” where Avery plays the theme straight
while the rest of the quartet hits offbeat accents
and Jones reharmonizes, it’s clear
that everyone is going for broke. Avery’s solo is reverential
yet wholly contemporary, fiery without losing site
of the tune’s core. Jones is as comfortable
with brisk chordal passages as he is lithe single
note lines, while Plaxico’s inherent flexibility
and Marchica’s powerful yet always melodic
approach work well, whether in accompaniment or
solo contexts.
“Tequila” has been covered far too
often, but this quartet turns it into a soulful,
funky romp where Jones’ chordal skills are
once again on display. Plaxico’s almost Jaco-esque
16th note foundation and Marchica’s unassailable
groove makes the tune fun without the usual tongue-in-cheek
shtick. Marchica’s own compositions range
from the blues-based fast swing of “9H5” to
the Elvin Jones triplet feel of the modal “The
Joneses,” which refers to both Elvin and
Rodney. Jones’ two compositions include the
open-ended “Journey’s End,” with
its relaxed yet somehow insistent feel, and the
midtempo post bop tune “Minor Mishap.”
The studio can sometimes be a cold place, making
it difficult to achieve the kind of “in the
zone” group feel that happens more naturally
in a live context, but Marchica and the quartet
manage to give In the Ring the
true spirit of what jazz should be about—open
ears, open minds, and, despite its placement in
a mainstream context, a distinct element of risk.
— John Kelman
August 26, 2005
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