East by Midwest

There are jazz guitarists who can play melodic themes and lyrical precision, and there are those who make use of the harsh and surreal sounds an electric guitar is capable of. Indianapolis's Ballantine is one of the rare youngsters who can do both, much as Bill Frisell and John Scofield did in an earlier generation. Ballantine proved this on his 2018 album of Dylan covers, and he proves it again on this even better project, which includes tunes by the Beatles, Thelonious Monk, Elliot Smith, Ornette Coleman, and Ballantine himself, shifting between arresting romanticism and crashing drama. Backed by only bassist Quinn Sternberg and Miguel Zenon's great drummer Dan Weiss, straddles jazz and rock without gimmicks or cliches, always serving the song rather than any trend. - Grade: A-