Live at the Village Vanguard album review — twisty quartet jazz

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Saxophonist Ben Wendel’s credits range from Snoop Dogg and Prince to high-flying jazz musicians Terence Blanchard and Bill Frisell. His many production and recording credits include electronic musician/producer Daedelus and the Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra. He has also released a dozen albums with the jazz-meets-alt-rock collective Kneebody, which he co-founded in 2001.

Eclectic by design, the saxophonist remains firmly in the jazz camp, as evidenced by the nine albums released under his own name. His last, All One, used orchestral brass to showcase a stylistic brew of collaborative guests. On this live album Wendel distils his broad aesthetic sweep into enticing themes and the twisty narratives of a contemporary sax-and-rhythm quartet. Recording quality is excellent and, as on many performances recorded at the Village Vanguard, the playing is inspired.

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The set opens with Wendel unaccompanied on furry-toned tenor sax, spinning melodies on the fly. Bassist Linda May Han Oh enters with a firm repeated riff, drums join in with a rattle and splash and Wendel probes at the pulse. The theme, “Lu”, is introduced some two minutes in, launching a riveting ebb-and-flow slow burn. The brittle stabs and twists of “Proof” then unfold at speed, the cowboy song “On the Trail” gains an off-kilter riff and mood-piece “Scosh” is subtly harmonised.

But the meat of the album is the thrilling interplay and probing improvisations of a disciplined working band. Wendel’s tonal control, fast runs and slurs into the upper range keep emotions stoked and pianist Gerald Clayton excites with subtle harmonies, exemplary technique and lyrical twists. That cowboy song, first given a modern jazz makeover by Jimmy Heath in 1966, now burns with tricksy rhythms from drummer Obed Calvaire and finds Oh’s woody-toned double bass completing an immaculate band sound.

Elsewhere, “Jean and Renata” delicately unfolds in the middle range and “I Saw You Say” is soulful and intense. The contemplative “Tao” closes the set with lyrical solos, a gently rocking pulse and echoes of country soul.

★★★★☆

‘Understory: Live at the Village Vanguard’ is released by Edition