MUSIC REVIEW BY Ferdinand Dupuis-Panther, Jazz'halo (Belgium)
We can read the following about the quintet and its creation on the Origin Records label website: "Born from a chance musical encounter at Chicago's Uptown Poetry Slam in 2017, The Last Word Quintet is a collaboration between four of Chicago's more active musicians and songwriters, with Marc Kelly Smith, a performance poet and a leader of the worldwide poetry slam movement. In an intense and amazingly short period of time they seamlessly wove Marc's original and classic poetry with Al Day's vocals and lyrics to form a collection of pieces illustrating multi-dimensional tales of urban life. With pianist Bob Long, bassist Doug Lofstrom and saxophonist Brian Gephart, the Last Word creates vivid worlds to be explored. As Robert Rodi wrote in Newcity, 'it's apparent we're hearing an entirely new kind of poetic conversation, and it's thrilling.' Joining the quintet on Falling to Earth is drummer Sarah Allen."
Rock, jazz rock, songwriting in the footsteps of Irish pub poetry and singing, in the spirit of Van Morrison and The Doors - all of this could go through one's head when listening to this album. These feelings spring from the stories that the band's two vocalists present, sometimes with references to rap, but above all to the aforementioned Van Morrison and other bards who were active in the R&B environment. As a listener, you sometimes feel like you have been transported to the late 1970s and 1980s. It was a heyday of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the Allman Brothers and others who emphasized narrative. For those mentioned, the word was given equal status alongside the music. This also applies to the musicians from the Last Word Quintet.
It seems that the sung and spoken word is very important and the music less so, though the music is often given color by Brian Gephart's saxophone. Guitar, piano, bass and drums fade into the background. The impression is that everything depends on the lyrics, not just in "Children of Paradise" and "Rage of Angels," but also in "Circle of Doors," which reaches our ears with a certain sense of wordplay and word sound. And on "Falling to Earth" country and west coast rock suddenly appear along with a bit of campfire atmosphere reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen.
For die-hard jazz lovers, the album is certainly not to their taste. The tracks are structured from A to Z, with no room for what most defines jazz: the improvisations. And then there is something else that distinguishes the quintet from a jazz ensemble: the narrative, vocally convincing thanks to Al Day and Marc Kelly Smith.
Translated from German
Rock, jazz rock, songwriting in the footsteps of Irish pub poetry and singing, in the spirit of Van Morrison and The Doors - all of this could go through one's head when listening to this album. These feelings spring from the stories that the band's two vocalists present, sometimes with references to rap, but above all to the aforementioned Van Morrison and other bards who were active in the R&B environment. As a listener, you sometimes feel like you have been transported to the late 1970s and 1980s. It was a heyday of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the Allman Brothers and others who emphasized narrative. For those mentioned, the word was given equal status alongside the music. This also applies to the musicians from the Last Word Quintet.
It seems that the sung and spoken word is very important and the music less so, though the music is often given color by Brian Gephart's saxophone. Guitar, piano, bass and drums fade into the background. The impression is that everything depends on the lyrics, not just in "Children of Paradise" and "Rage of Angels," but also in "Circle of Doors," which reaches our ears with a certain sense of wordplay and word sound. And on "Falling to Earth" country and west coast rock suddenly appear along with a bit of campfire atmosphere reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen.
For die-hard jazz lovers, the album is certainly not to their taste. The tracks are structured from A to Z, with no room for what most defines jazz: the improvisations. And then there is something else that distinguishes the quintet from a jazz ensemble: the narrative, vocally convincing thanks to Al Day and Marc Kelly Smith.
Translated from German