Wavetone Records and Mark Egan: Press

Mark Egan "As We Speak"



MARK EGAN FEATURING JOHN ABERCROMBIE AND DANNY GOTTLIEB
Album Title: As We Speak
Producer(s): Mark Egan
Genre: JAZZ
Label/Catalog Number: Wavetone
Source: Billboard.com
Originally Reviewed: September 26, 2006


Virtuoso fretless bassist Mark Egan and drummer Danny Gottlieb, previously rhythm section partners for their own Elements band and the Pat Metheny Group, link up with journeyman jazz guitarist John Abercrombie for 16 lessons in intuitive trio playing. The leader, inspired in part by Abercrombie's Gateway trio and playing music reminiscent of Metheny's early work with Egan's one-time teacher, Jaco Pastorius, uses his Pedulla five-string to hum, growl and slide his way through two discs' worth of originals and other tunes recorded live at his Electric Fields studio. His warm bass melds beautifully with Abercrombie's fluid guitar for unison lines on the title track, imbues the standard "Alone Together" with appreciable dramatics and takes the lead on the aptly titled ballad "Your Sweet Way," stating the poignant melody over Gottlieb's sensitive propulsion on brushes. The second CD offers just as many treasures, including the free-floating group-penned "Dream Sequence" and Abercrombie's limber, conversational "Time Out." Trouble with trios? Not here. -- Philip Booth

MARK EGAN – as we speak

Mark Egan came to the attention of most of us in the mid-70s, as a member of the first Pat Metheny Group, with whom he recorded a number of classic albums. Between 1982 and 1990 he released not only two solo albums, ‘Mosaic’ and ‘A touch of light’, but also six albums with PMG partner in rhythm, drummer Danny Gottlieb, as ‘Elements’. I still have all of these albums on vinyl, always having loved the bassist’s fretless work that, while clearly influenced by Jaco, nonetheless established a turf of its own. Apart from some recordings with Gil Evans and collaborations with the Hooters and Joan Osborn, I didn’t hear much of Egan after 1990, to my considerable regret.

Until now, that is. ‘As we speak’ is, to put it mildly, an astonishing album. Weighing in at over 100 minutes, this trio date features musicians who appear to be connected at the brain – or perhaps more accurately the heart. The interaction between the bassist and drummer Danny Gottlieb is already legendary, and these recordings are further testimony to this. In October 1986 I caught the Randy Brecker-Eliane Elias quintet at Fat Tuesday in New York, with Gottlieb and guitarist John Abercrombie. What had impressed me most that night was the telepathic interplay between drummer and guitarist: when Abercrombie was soloing, Gottlieb was right behind him, urging him on, shadowing, cajoling him – it was a breathtaking experience. So when I saw the line-up for this album, I knew that I would be in for treat.

Gottlieb’s playing is urgent, yet playful – open and boisterous. Abercrombie’s sound is sharper and crisper than before – already indicated, however, in his contribution to Charles Lloyd’s ‘The water is wide’. And Egan himself … well, his fretless intonation is flawless, his tone big and growly. This comes closest to a straight-ahead jazz recording, probably the first I’ve ever heard of the bassist, as evidenced especially on the trio compositions on disc 2. The sound painting on the opening title, ‘Spirals’, and the authoritative solos on the title track and on the Latinesque ‘Vanishing point’ serve as early, unequivocal signals of the bassist’s intentions: to capture the exuberant spirit and interplay of his favorite trio recordings. Not only is Egan’s bass upfront, but this is also the album that has him coming into his own as a composer. The only ‘cover’ is the Arthur Schwartz-Howard Dietz classic, ‘Alone together’. The rest is penned either by Egan or by the trio. (In fact, my only quibble here is that the aforementioned piece is played in too fast a tempo, Egan’s masterful take on the melody and soloing notwithstanding. There is obviously no rule that states how tunes should be interpreted; this observation merely reflects my own personal preference.) Egan’s earlier compositions tended to have the character of useful exercises, for ensuring greater finger independence, and arpeggio-related explorations. ‘As we speak’ is the album that comprehensively puts paid to this impression. ‘Your sweet way’ is a ballad that has ‘standard’ written all over it. ‘Mississippi nights’ has a heartlands, Midwestern flavor. ‘Shade and shadows’ is a gently assertive meditation in 3 that picks up steam midway through and features yet another arresting solo by the bassist. ‘Depraw’ has an element of the reverse warp that characterises Monk’s compositions, while ‘Plane to the Trane’ (albeit a ballad) is a soaring, transcendent tribute to the late tenor great name-checked in the title.

In short, this is a climactic double CD that anyone who is interested in bass and in the possibilities of telepathic sonic communication ought to get to own. In other words, a gem of an album!

Kai Horsthemke/ March 2007/South Africa Bass Site