Jeremy Pelt
November
Maxjazz
By George W. Harris

31 year old trumpeter Jeremy Pelt has had a recording carrier that shows that he is still searching for that “something-something”. Initially hitting the scene with a set of discs emphasizing his tone in the context of standards, he made a left hand turn a couple of years ago to plug into the Miles Davis fusion feel of the 70s, feeling that music would best connect with his generation. I’ve seen him in both contexts, and the size and demographics of the audience definitely changed with the style. This latest release seems to be a welcome compromise, consisting of originals, yet set in an acoustic setting with a stellar group of bandmates. The songs are all well conceived, creative, accessible, and with lots of interesting melodies and harmonies to make the solos consequential.

Except for the lovingly beautiful rubato drone of the opening “Mata”, the tunes consist of modern post bop, with Pelt’s horn as gorgeous as ever. His harmonic work with tenor saxist JD Allen is superb, particularly on “Clairvoyant” and “Avatar”, which features some great solo work by the saxist. Pianist Danny Grisset seems to set the pace with his dark and rich statements of the theme, as on “Avatar”, or floating warm chords that eventually splash into asserted and driving gallops with drummer Gerald Cleaver, as on “Dreamcatcher”. The band is still able to reach between bebop (“Phoenix”) and hard driving acoustic funk (“466-64”), as well as post modern bop. Pelt’s duet with Grissett on “Rosalie” is a gorgeous and dreamy tune. This is easily Pelt’s strongest release to date, showing his creativity in composing as well as arranging.