No More Mr. Nice Guy
Nice Guys
The Lello Molinari Quintet finish first.
by Ed Hazell
Although bassist Lello Molinari is the nominal leader of the quintet heard on No More Mister Nice Guy (Accurate), it's saxophonist George Garzone who dominates the debut recording of the two-year old band.
Everyone in the group - alto saxophonist and bass clarinettist Douglas Yates, guitarist Luigi Tessarollo, and drummer Matt Wilson - contributes, of course. But Garzone's bold inventiveness makes the greatest impression. For Garzone, a founder of Boston's venerable new jazz trio, the Fringe, improvising is as natural as breathing and eating. Honed by 20 years of regular weekly gigs, his technical mastery of the tenor is simply the means to his expressive ends.
On "Stuntman," scintillating single-note lines that bob and weave lightly over the roiling rhythm section give way to multiphonics and choppy phrases dirtied by a throaty buzz. Leisurely phrases get elbowed out of the way by the impatient onrush of 16th notes. A master of pacing, tension and release, Garzone directs the flow of the music and sets the emotional tone of each track. He also contributes three tunes: the title track with its convoluted melody; a ballad dedicated to his godson, Molinari's son Max; and a free-energy showcase for the rhythm team.
Although Garzone is the only horn soloist on five of the seven tracks, singling him out is unfair to a certain extent. Molinari leads in subtle ways. Not one to upstage a bandmate, the Italian-born former Berklee and NEC student casts himself in a supporting role more often than as leading man. His warm, enveloping tone doesn't so much drive the music as cup it in a soft but firm embrace. He can think in terms of the whole performance but still interact conversationally with soloists, helping to make even the free-energy passages cohere.
In his writing Molinari musters his inspirations - Thelonious Monk, the blues, Ornette Coleman - into an original identity with a touch of humor. "C'era Chi?" (the title is a pun on the jazz warhorse "Cherokee") plays games with the tempo, pitting half-time bass and drums against the careering saxophones, while Tessarollo sprinkles opaque chords and suspended melody lines between. "Blues Anyone" takes several Thelonius Monk's signature rhythms and intervals and scrambles them into an original shape.
Drummer Matt Wilson embodies all that's right with Boston's current jazz scene: in whatever context he's placed, he's schooled enough to be relaxed and creative enough to delight and surprise. On alto saxophone, Douglas Yates, a former member of Either/Orchestra and a current member of the Mandala Octet, has a commanding tone and attack, but he's still trying to kick a serious Eric Dolphy jones. However, his dueting on bass clarinet with Garzone on Molinari's lullaby "Goodnight Sweetheart" nicely elaborates the composition's mood of playful tranquillity. Tessarollo plays with authority and insight throughout, comping and soloing with a malleable tone and rhythmic finesse that leans far off-center one moment, then slips right in the pocket the next.
The quintet, finalists in the 1992 Cognac Hennessy Best of Boston Jazz Search, span the wide, historically informed (but progressive) stylistic range that's become an Accurate trademark. Their love for the material and the tradition it represents, their assurance as soloists, and their obvious desire to communicate with the audience and among themselves encourages you to follow them wherever they go.
