Chicago Red

Chicago cum Colorado trumpeter Brad Goode also likes the sound of the electric piano, employing it liberally (at the hands of Jeff Jenkins) on Chicago Red. His mix also includes the funky guitar of Bill Kopper and electric bass of Bijoux Barbosa. How he differs from Jeremy Pelt, in this respect, is in his more organic application of the electric instruments. Goode's version of funk is tightly scripted and more reminiscent of James Brown and Sly Stone than Davis' marathon performances. The result is what "contemporary jazz" should be, as opposed to what it is.

The James Brown sound is most evident on "Intervallistic," a straight and insistent funk riff over which Goode (soloing open bell) and guitarist Bill Kopper have free-rein and much time to probe the piece's simple harmonic presence. The rhythm section sets up a brisk funk riff that would serve as a dandy live performance vehicle for the band. "Mambo Disonate" is dreamy, minor-key ballad that allows a great deal of complexity to be introduced into the piece. Bassist Burniss Earl Travis gives a bubbling electric-bass solo that further drives the song beyond its opening ballad sensibility.

The two "standards" are interesting. Goode reimagines "St. Louis Blues" as a percussion-heavy, futuristic interpretation that would fit nicely into a post-modern film soundtrack (think of the bar scene in Star Wars). Goode plays muted while Kopper plays sitar to great and disconcerting effect. Goode adapts the aria "Vesti La Giubba" from Ruggero Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci with Kopper again on sitar. Oddly, Goode turns this opera piece into a lyrical jazz vehicle that reveals his sure open bell tone.