Mitch Kessler: Der Erlkonig

Mitch Kessler (sax, flute)

Der Erlkonig (Sun Jump Records)

John Esposito (piano)

Peter O'Brien (drums)
Ira Coleman (bass)

Working with longtime friends and fellow upstate NY musicians The John Esposito Trio, Mitch Kessler has produced a marvelous second album, Der Erlkonig (The ElfKing) (Sun Jump Records) which somehow surpasses his debut Erratica (Sun Jump Records; 2009). This is a spiritual/free jazz outing in the vein and quality of Pharoah Sanders, Eric Dolphy and Alice Coltrane; or even the soulful elements of Detroit's Tribe which featured Phil Ranelin, Marcus Belgrave and others.

Der Erlkonig, a poem written by Johann Wolfgan Von Goethe tells the story of young boy who is killed by a mysterious being while riding home with his father on horseback. It's is dark and unsettling story that leaves a lot to the imagination. Here Kessler has made the piece more haunting by delivering the poem in its traditional German. The performances "Der Erlkonig" are spectacular. The opening bassline from Coleman suggests a beat generation like journey over the next 70 minutes. And it delivers. The quartet are smokin' and make the haunting tale seem more like a journey of a higher order.

"Indo Eurasian Folksong" has all the elements of A Love Supreme-Acknowledgement with an added level of urgency. The timing and interaction between the quartet tells you that while they've only recorded a small amount of material together they are still tight and rhythmically adventurous. The floating hypnotic nature of Kessler's flute combined with Coleman's addictive bassline just underneath is sublime.

"Non Sequitur" bursts through with some wonderful improvisational exchanges between Kessler and Esposito. Coleman and O'Brien are not to be outdone as they emerge midway with an excellent yet delicate exchange that leads to a lovely closing.

"Vietnamese Waltz" closes out this session and it's a blisteringly beautiful track with excellent solo work from each musician. Kessler's playing is far-reaching, exploratory and touching all in a matter of nine minutes. This is great stuff, people.

For me, Kessler's compositions are an interesting and intricate balance of the latter works of both Coltrane's (John and Alice) and Monk. With only his second release, Der Erlkonig, Mitch Kessler has estabished himself as a soon to be dominate talent on the scene if he continues with this type of consistently strong and creative output. Mitch Kessler is an undiscovered treasure and more than worth the purchase (You can find it at Downtown Music Gallery). Enjoy.

Soul Jazz Week: Marcus Belgrave

This week JazzWrap looks at a few rare and new soul jazz albums which helped shape the genre and moved them it forward.

Marcus Belgrave (trumpet; b. 1936)
Gemini (reissue on Universal Sound, originally release Tribe Records 1974)

Phil Ranelin (trombone) Wendel Harrison (sax)
Billy Turner (drums) Roy Brooks (drums)
Lorenzo Brown (bongos) Ed Pickens (bass)
Harold McKinney (electric piano) Daryl Dybka (moog)

Emerging from a Detroit psychedelic funk movement of Detroit in the '70s, Marcus Belgrave has turned into one of the elder statesman of jazz in Detroit. His talents have been instrumental to recordings by a myriad of artists including; Kenny Garrett, Charles Mingus, Gerri Allen and most significantly Ray Charles and pop/alternative funkmiesters Was Not Was. Marcus Belgrave also studied under one the great trumpeters ever, Clifford Brown. Belgrave's ability to move up and down the scales does have many to remark the similarity to his famous mentor. His more recent recordings still contain some groovy elements but nothing like his 1974 album, Gemini.

Gemini is an amazing and weird blend of swing and funky beats. The opening track "Space Odyssey" starts out with some great atmospherics from Daryl Dybka (moog) before diving into the slow funk groove of Harlod McKinney (electric piano) and lead by Belgrave and the rest of the horn section. This is heady stuff by worthy of a couple of glass of wine. The unison that Belgrave, Harrison and Ranelin have throughout "Space Odyssey" and the rest of the recording is superb.

Gemini shows Belgrave's versatility on the swinging "Marcia's Opal" which mixing the big band aspects with the some great noodling from McKinney. It's crazy to say this but its like a big band doing a swing version of Miles Davis fusion material. Weird, trippy but definitely cool. This ensemble while not a big band sure performs like one at times and it gives Gemini a great deal of depth.

The standout track for me is "Glue Fingers I & II" which is a fierce little number with interchanges across the band. This is definitely the highlight for Belgrave and Ranelin. It's a big, full bodied sound with great accompaniment from the percussion and drum section and again McKinney's electric piano.

Gemini is funky, head twisting stuff that not only demonstrates the expert skills of Marcus Belgrave, it signifies the marvelous talents of the band he surrounded himself with. They were mostly Detroiter's whom are still active today. Gemini is a stellar document of the Detroit jazz scene in the '70s (a scene which gets overshadow by the history of Motown) and an album which many may not know about you should definitely pick it up. Gemini has been distributed under two different covers but if you see "Space Odyssey" and "Glue Fingers" listed than you found yourself a little piece of history. Enjoy.