City Life: Music of Gregg Hill

Compared to his other new release, Flow (reviewed overleaf), this set by Michael Dease consists of two very different concepts. The first CD is a trombone, bass, drums trio, whereas the second is a post-bop quintet of conventional instrumentation. At the heart of both discs, though, is the music of Michigan-based jazz composer Gregg Hill.

The opening of the first CD, 'Willow Walks In' points to the way Watts and Oh will work with the trombone, and with two such strong rhythmic players, there's a clear delineation between more open sections and playing time - Watts' assured mastery of the kit underpinning some of the more abstract ideas.

It could be quite a hard listen, but variety is introduced, particularly in the atmospheric 'Movie Theme' where the warm ethereal vocals of Dease are teamed with the trombone at the start. The tonal contrast works, and foregrounding either bass or drums on some of the other pieces helps.

But the second set (by the quintet, with Beckstead-Craan replacing Oh on a pair of tracks) is more fulfilling and a better listen overall. As with Flow, there's a sense of complete ensemble cohesion, and the opening 'Tea Time' draws us more effectively into Hill's compositional world. This second CD does have music by others (Dease, Greg Tardy, JJ Johnson, Emily Remler), but these tracks cohere well to the overall concept, and the record comes to a triumphant conclusion with Hill's funky New Orleans-inspired 'Lafayette Square'.