Gene Argel

Luminescent

82682

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MUSIC REVIEW BY Tree Palmedo, Jazz Society of Oregon

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Four decades into his career, Gene Argel has finally dropped his debut album. Recorded with some of Seattle's finest players, Luminescent is a bridging of Argel's original home -- he grew up in Tacoma -- and his adopted one, the island of Maui, where Argel has lived since 1982. There's a lot of catching up to do, and the album does its best to cover years of ground: some tracks are swinging, others funky, others haunting tributes to the island Argel calls home.

It's no fault to the rest of the album to say that this record peaks early. "Annette," which was written for an indigenous community in British Columbia, is a gem of a tune, a throwback to the days of Jim Pepper and the Keith Jarrett European Quartet. Multi-instrumentalist Jay Thomas delivers the soaring melody with just the right amount of trembling vibrato, and Argel alternates between feather-light chords and punchy grooves.

After "Anette," the album moves on to decidedly jazzier fare. Argel's lines seem to wind on for miles without ever devolving into cliché, and every space he leaves is filled by chattering drums from Mark Ivester Who, with bassist Chuck Deardorf, makes even medium swing numbers like "People" crackle with energy.

Understandably for an album so diverse, things can feel a bit scattered. Thomas's "Baby Gator," a funky minor blues, is performed well but feels a little out of place next to the lush and somber "Haida Welcome Song." But it's worth hearing a taste of everything Argel can do, and fortunately, the album ends with what he does best: a return to the '70s Jarrett vibe with the sunny "Hermosa" and the free ballad "If I Loved You." He may have called somewhere else home for years, but Gene Argel hasn't lost the utterly friendly spirit of the Pacific Northwest.








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