TOUROLOGY REVIEWS
By TODD S. JENKINS JANUARY, 2001
JazzReview.com

Ed Bennett’s quintet is a superior group from Portland, Oregon, which has become a hotbed of jazz activity. The bassist boasts an admirable resume including stints with Carmen McRae, Joe Henderson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Sonny Stitt, the Akiyoshi-Tabackin Big Band, and a number of West Coast stalwarts. Tourology is his fourth album on his own label, Saphu. While the disc’s back cover emulates the appearance of classic Blue Note LPs, the music within is skewed solidly toward West Coast coolness.

The unusual alto-trombone front line works very well in this style of music. Warren Rand’s alto approach is reminiscent of Bud Shank and Phil Woods, edgy without being abrasive. Tom Hill is a fine trombonist with a fluid attack and bright tone, complementing the alto sound nicely. Pianist Steve Christofferson, a popular local figure, and drummer Tony Jefferson form a flexible rhythmic partnership with Bennett, who composed most of the selections here. The bassist’s approach to the upright is limber and technically masterful.

There’s an enjoyable array of tunes on this collection. The bossa rhythm of Melange and lightly swinging waltz of Waltz For Milo are especially comfortable, and the ensemble holds fast onto the uptempo Whee Up. Ray's Idea, a less familiar piece by Ray Brown and Gil Fuller, nostalgically recalls the fertile era between bebop’s complexity and the openness of free jazz. Another little-known gem is the dark, mysterious White Flight, by bass icon Putter Smith. Bennett takes the initial melodic statements on Tiny Capers, a Clifford Brown composition, and the Billy Strayhorn classic Chelsea Bridge. All of the performers have a natural feel for the unfailing swing necessary to pull off this type of jazz. Tourology works beautifully on all levels, an immensely enjoyable jazz offering.


By LYNN DARROCH JUNE, 1997
Special writer, The Oregonian ****

 Jazz bassist and composer Ed Bennett grew up in the mainstream, where he honed his craft with such greats as vocalist Carmen McRae, Grammy-winning saxophonist Joe Henderson and the Akiyoshi-Tabackin Big Band. That journeyman’s odyssey with the older generation prepared Bennett will for the future, because the most vital jazz being written today speaks through a form first developed more than 40 years ago.

Bennett’s new CD, “Tourology” - the Portland resident’s fourth as a leader- evokes the mainstream compositional style at its most melodic, lavishly voiced peak in the 1950s. And his all-star quintet makes this recording’s 11 examples of the hard bop, West Coast jazz and classic bebop styles sing with contemporary freshness.

For most of its history, the highest value in jazz was innovation. Musicians relentessly pursued new sounds and techniques at the expense of fully investigating the possibilities of each successive form. But the latest generation of jazz players to reach maturity are the music’s first real post-modernist. With the whole history of jazz at their fingertips, many used some of the hippest inventions of the past to express themselves in the present. Bennett’s music never sounds like work of preservationists, though.

“Acoustic jazz breathes,” says Steve Christofferson, pianist on this album and a leader and recording artist on his own. There’s organic motion and elasticity here that makes each tune a new adventure, as if it were being performed live. Like Warren Rand’s incisive alto saxophone, the sound is pretty but rough-hewn. Cut with bold strokes, it is emotional, dynamic and spontaneous.

It’s also carefully arranged, showcasing Bennett’s well-constructed melodies and lovely chord voicings on his seven originals. With trombonist Tom Hill harmonizing with Rand on the front line, while Christofferson and drummer Tony Jefferson join Bennett in the swinging rhythm section, they recall the soulful and complex music created at the legendary Prestige recording sessions outside New York city and the expansive optimism of jazz on Hollywood Boulevard in the 1950s.


By GEORGE FENDEL AUGUST, 1997
Jazzscene, Oregons Jazz Magazine *****
 Ed Bennett is one of those powerhouse players whose virtuosity inspires the other participants on the bandstand to give it all they’ve got. Bennett remains one of the few bassist committed to a totally unamplified sound. But it’s the hugely rhythmic sound of infinite ideas as demonstrated on this CD. Bennett’s quintet includes Warren Rand, alto; Tom Hill, trombone; Steve Christofferson, piano, and Tony Jefferson, drums. Together they cruise through a selection of Bennett originals and a few standards mostly in medium to up tempos. I was tickled to see the inclusion of a Clifford Brown tune with a lilting, infectious melody. It’s called Tiny Capers, and since I first encountered it through the selective ear of my son Marc, it has remained an all-timer. It’s just one example of an album brimming with vitality and artistry.



By DICK BOGLE JUNE 25, 1997
The Portland Skanner *****

 Bassist Ed Bennett is a California transplant who should be welcome in Oregon with open arms since he brings a boatload of talent with him. OK, so he’s been here for seven years. He brought with him years of experience working with Jimmy Witherspoon, Carmen McRae, Joe Henderson, Sonny Stitt, Frank Morgan, Anita O’Day and more.That kind of experience holds him in good stead working with such first-class Portland cats as alto saxophonist Warren Rand, trombonist Tom Hill, pianist Steve Christofferson and drummer Tony Jefferson, all of whom help make this a five-star release in anybody’s city. Bennett also ably showcases his composing style with seven of the 11 charts penned by him. His arranging skills also deserve high marks, particularly with the way the horn parts are written.

Rand and Hill blend their sounds so well. Some tracks are reminiscent of Tadd Dameron’s sound. An example of the nice pairing of the two horns comes with the first track, “Tourology.” It’s a cute up tempo piece written by Bennett. Hill is impressive with his trombone solo on “Melange,” a Latin-flavored nifty. Rand is mellow and warm on the thoughtful ballad “Passing,” written by Bennett and dedicated to his father.One of the most beautiful ballads ever written is given its due by Bennett as he lays down a gorgeous unaccompanied solo on the Billy Strayhorn classic “Chelsea Bridge.”


By FRANK RUBOLINO SEPTEMBER, 1997
Cadence Magazine

Bassist Bennett has assembled a well-deciplined band that showcases seven of his compositions, plus four others. The group consists of a strong trombone/alto front line that projects a sound larger than what you would expect from a quintet. The music is straight-ahead jazz done in a very tasteful way, but the 11 tunes are short (longest is 5:19) and don’t offer much room to stretch out.

Bennett’s composing style reminds me of Mancini’s work with Peter Gunn and Mr. Lucky television series. It consists of close harmonies in the theme statement, short improvisational periods, and a strong rhythm section. I know we no longer differentiate east and west coast sounds, but this album projects a definite Southern California flavor, even though it was recorded in Oregon. Only later did I read that Bennett is originally from and has played in Los Angeles. A good example is “Melange.” It is a sound track in search of a sit-com that has a delightful Latin beat and a theme that is original and catchy. Hill and Rand skate through the piece with vigor and the whole thing gels.

On Clifford Brown’s “Tiny Capers,” Bennett takes the lead with a bass solo that touches on the melody and then prances through the changes accompanied by only piano and drums. He also pays homage to Ray Brown on “Ray’s Idea” with a fast-paced bebop rendition of the tune. His other spotlight tune is a bass solo of Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge.” When the quintet format is on stage, Bennett uses a propelling bass sound to boot his up tempo songs or to control the slower paced ones. Typically he allows Rand and Hill some short bursts, but no extended improvisation occurs. They do and excellent job with Bennett’s charts, though, and their harmonies mix very well with the theme statements.
Bennett’s band plays with gusto and spirit. This album is a fine example of his compositional skill and his leadership ability. Besides, after listening to the melodies a few times, they start to grow on you.


IN SEASON REVIEWS

By GEORGE FENDEL FEBRUARY, 1995
Jazzscene, Oregons Jazz Magazine ****

 Since his move to Portland several years ago, Ed Bennett has established himself as one of the area’s premier bass players. In Season is his second CD and it provides a wide ranging look at Bennett’s music. The twelve selections are evenly divided between trio and quintet performances with Paul Mazzio,trumpet and flugelhorn and Lee Wuthenow, tenor added to the trio of Bennett, Steve Christofferson, piano and Ron Steen, drums. Seven of the tunes are originals and I liked the loose, loping, lyrical, West Coast feeling on The Path and Solution of Resolution. Bennett displays a leaning for the Latin rhythms on Samba de Ed and Bindu and solos with style on Noel Coward’s Mad About The Boy. I was impressed with the inclusion of two infrequently heard tunes from jazzdom’s hallowed history: Bennie Harris’ Crazeology and the even more rare Dancing Sunbeam by Lucky Thompson. Mazzio, Wuthenow and Christofferson are pearls of musicianship and Steen lends his usual solid presence. Bennett’s writing and playing are at the very heart of jazz: swinging lines with room to improvise and always, the joy of making good music. Even though it’s only February, I can safely say that this will be one of my highly recommended local recordings of 1995.


By JACK ALDRICH JUNE, 1995
Victory Review

Big label A&R folks should have feeding frenzies for jazzlike rock so superb NW musicians like Portland bassist Bennett will not get lost. This fine collection features Ed’s own compositions and standards presented in the best of the neo-classic style - a blend of West Coast jazz, and bop, but with modern modal lines and harmonic structure. Bennett has played for diverse artists from Witherspoon to McRae and the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabaken Big Band. He assembled competent NW musicians: Paul Mazzio-trumpet and flugelhorn, Lee Withenow-tenor, Steve Christofferson-piano, and Ron Steen-drums. I can’t say enough about the arrangements and choice of music. I’ve known about but haven’t heard Lucky Thompson’s “Dancing Sunbeam” before. Noel Coward’s “Mad About the Boy” is given a droll reading featuring Bennett’s bass. “Samba de Ed” and “Bindu” are nice Brazilian influences. “In Season” has a great set of changes as it moves through several keys. Other titles are indicative of what’s going on in the head: “Blues Over extends beyond the blues; “The Path” has a line that moves us along through the changes; and “Eyes of Ibad” goes beyond bop. This is so good I have asked for lead sheets! I hope this is circulated back East.

By SANDRA BURLINGAME FEBRUARY, 1995
5/4 Magazine

Bassist Ed Bennett caught my ears almost 20 years ago as a member of Carmen McRae’s trio in a televised concert with Clark Terry’s big band plus strings. Bennett’s playing stood out in a gorgeous duo with McRae on an Ellington medley. He’s been based in Portland for the past five years and just released his second CD on Saphu. In Season has him wearing several hats as producer, recording engineer and main composer. He features Rose City artists in trio and quintet settings covering a dozen compositions, seven of them Bennett’s. It took me a while to warm up to the CD-- perhaps it was the order of the selections or the occasional monotony of Ron Steen’s drumming--but I was won over.
Quintet and trio divvy up the tunes. The horns of Paul Mazzio (trumpet,flugelhorn) and Lee Wuthenow (tenor sax) are well-matched, especially so when they open in the unison style of classic ‘50s quintets. Mazzio plays with great warmth and an assurance that belies the difficulty of his solos. Wuthenow, too, is a melodic player whose ease lends an appropriately sultry touch to Bennett’s “Samba de Ed.” The quintet dispatches Miles Davis’ “Serpent’s Tooth” with cool, sophisticated swing of the master himself.
Pianist Steve Christofferson’s linear style and firm yet light touch provide the perfect counterpart for Bennett, whose fluid approach retains the individuality of his rapidly plucked notes. Bennett favors the bass’ rich lower register which Steve echoes with his bass lines on Lucky Thompson’s “Dancing Sunbeam.”
In a trio version of “Mad About the Boy” Bennett bows the melody and then an improvisation on it with smooth clarity, while Christofferson snakes around the bass lines. “Time,” a composition by Richard Powell that is completely new to me and a highlight of the CD, is a haunting ballad dramatized by fascinating voicings from bass and piano and subtle shadings from Steen. You’ll be rewarded by a careful listen to In Season.

BLUES FOR HAMP REVIEWS
By PAUL B MATTHEWS DECEMBER, 1993
Cadence Magazine

Bennett is active on the Portland and Pacific Northwest jazz scene. As The leader and producer of this album, his second, he’s inspired some “active” playing from his trio to fortify their program of lively, straight ahead jazz. Bennett and Glenn provide just over half the compositions. The pianist pays homage in his to some favorite colleagues and predecessors. The brisk title tune honors Hampton Hawes for example, and “Libation”, Bud Powell. Hold that thought for a moment. Now think of those crispy played notes and that lightly knit playing style that was a hallmark of the first-generation beboppers and you’ll have a good sense of this trio’s style. Bennett’s playing and how he works his bass into the arrangements consistently evoked in my ears, thoughts of Pettiford and Potter. Berk supplies some very tasty brush work and Glenn plays with the same relaxed confidence that Powell possessed. Having said this, I should hasten to add that this is not a bebop album. Bennett contributes a 10 bar ballad and a Brazilian tempoed original. One of his showcase numbers is “The Red Door” which may be more familiar to you under the name “Zoot Walked In” (in honor of the saxophonist’s having adopted it as his signature tune). The operative word is “walked” and after listening to Bennett take the lead on it here, you may wonder why some enterprising bassist hasn’t snatched it up for his theme. One of the pleasures of being a reviewer for Cadence is coming across a sleeper like this release. An independently produced album by a group you and I may not otherwise get to hear that’s unpretentious but well thought out, beautifully played...and recommended.

I"LL CLOSE MY EYES REVIEW
By LYNN DARROCH JANUARY 5, 2001
Special writer, The Oregonian ****

It's easy to understand why drummer Mel Brown once employed Tony Pacini as his pianist. Guitarist Dan Faehnle, now touring with Diana Krall, regularly used Pacini in his group, too, as did the late great bassist Leroy Vinnegar.
Like his star employers, the Portland native is a swinging, straight-ahead player with an affinity for the blues. At times recalling the late Gene Harris, Pacini's debut CD, "I'll Close My Eyes," documents his place among the first rank of regional pianists operating deep within the jazz tradition.

It's a skill he's honed night after night on the bandstand in the company of other top instrumentalists, spinning out variations on familiar themes that include jazz standards such as "Line for Lyons" and the vintage pop of "This Could Be the Start of Something Big," which appear on this CD.

But such ballads as "Chelsea Bridge" and several of the album's five originals reveal another side to Pacini. His "Pastel for Two," for instance, draws from the impressionistic Bill Evans' tradition with its pretty, flowing figures in the right hand. His stately, restrained rendition of Michel Legrand's "You Must Believe in Spring" also exhibits his taste for lush chords and quiet beauty. And Pacini's "Song for Marci" may be the prettiest melody in the collection.

The beauty never interferes with the beat, though, nor does a more abstract, inventive version of "I'll Remember April" stop the syncopated propulsion at the heart of the straight-ahead tradition. For the most part Pacini ornaments rather than deconstructs familiar melodies, lending freshness with twists in time and new melodic lines.

A well-schooled player, Pacini attended Boston's Berklee College of Music and has worked with a variety of great musicians. Here he displays that wide range to showcase his many talents. His true colors emerge in "Blues Medley," which contains the hard bop of Lee Morgan's "Speedball" (complete with a couple of Gene Harris licks), in the soul-jazz of "Mr. B.T." and in the album's lead song, "Time to Swing," where he rides the big, round tones of Ed Bennett's bass and Tim Rap's tasty drums. Bennett is featured often, but the album belongs to Pacini, whose performance demonstrates why he has become another jewel in Portland's mainstream jazz crown.


Girl Talk
 By STEPHEN LATESSA APRIL 2005
All About Jazz.com

The notes on the back cover of Girl Talk, the new disc from the Mel Brown Quartet, proudly proclaim that the band has “over 100 years of collective experience.” Indeed, an easy, lived-in approach defines the ten tracks on the album. It is the work of veterans whose professionalism yields consistently solid results. The musicians—Mel Brown (drums), Dan Balmer (guitar), Ed Bennett (bass), and Tony Pacini (piano)—are all bandleaders in their own right. Based in Portland, Oregon, the band came together in the fall of 2002.

The title track gets a dreamy treatment with lush, deft brushwork from Brown. Pacini (who summons a crystalline solo) and Balmer caress the lovely melody with heightened sensitivity, causing the listener to wish they would just keep going and not allow the inevitable disappointment when the number comes to an end. Elsewhere, the quartet explores the elegant “Waltz For Theo,” composed by Bennett. In addition to contributing the song, Bennett also offers a stimulating, full-throated solo.

The hushed glow of Balmer’s “Venus” is absolutely gorgeous, and the final track, Miles Davis’ classic “Milestones,” finds the band going at full throttle. Brown combines insistent cymbal work with speedy and powerful bomb clusters. Like the best up-tempo performances, it has a feel that it might simply accelerate off the rails, yet somehow it stays right on track.


LIVE: AN EVENING WITH THE MEL BROWN QUARTET
 By KYLE O'BRIAN OCTOBER, 2006
Jazz Society of Oregon *****

This group just keeps getting tighter and tighter. After a sizzling opening set at the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival, it's only a matter of time before they're in demand in New York and beyond. Brown's buoyant rhythms propel this energetic and well planned live disc which was thoughtfully recorded with an audience in the studio at Kung Fu Bakery. The result captures the same intimate immediacy as they have at Jimmy Mak's every week, but with better recording capabilities, so we get to hear the tick of Mel's high hat, the intricate picking by bassist Ed Bennett, the chordal punch of Tony Pacini's piano, and the fluid, melodic guitar lines by Dan Balmer all with studio crispness. It starts with the heavy swing of Pacini's "Dandyish" and goes on a journey through the band's favorites, including the rapid-fire arrangement of "Prelude to a Kiss," and other originals by Balmer, Bennett and Pacini, including the freewheeling "Ticondeep" by Bennett. It's a fantastic album from a band deserving much wider recognition.

LIVE: AN EVENING WITH THE MEL BROWN QUARTET
By DICK BOGLE AUGUST, 2006
The Skanner*****
MBQ Live Review

"The Mel Brown Quartet" — with pianist Tony Pacini, guitarist Dan Balmer, bassist Ed Bennett  and Brown on drums — has become a Wednesday night mainstay at Jimmy Mak’s in the Pearl District.

This CD will explain the band’s continuing popularity over the long haul. It opens with the Pacini composition, “Dandyish,” a sprightly piece with an easy-to-remember theme. Duke Ellington’s “Prelude to a Kiss” gets an unfamiliar rapid-fire treatment from both Pacini and Balmer, which the live audience loved, interrupting with cheers and applause.

Charlie Parker’s “Yardbird Suite” is beneficiary of Pacini’s piano with a nice share of block chords and his usual sparkling right hand. Ed Bennett  contributes a melodic bass solo, followed by the swinging Balmer. It’s great to see and hear Balmer’s straight-ahead chops.

Balmer shows the band’s appreciation of club owner Jimmy Mak with his tune, “One for Jimmy Mak.” Brown leads off with a very brief drum roll, and then it’s an off-and-running.

There is no weak link in either the band or the recording. It is solid through all 10 cuts, some of which include “Smile,” “Gone With the Wind,” “Ticondeep,” “May Song” and more."

 
 




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