There are four elements that combine in such a way so as to make The Drive […] commendable and these are the musicians who perform on it […]
A fifth element makes it especially enjoyable to my ears and that is the music itself.
This is because, unlike many of the self-produced CD that manage to find their way to the editorial office of JazzProfiles which are made up of exclusively new music, that is to say, original compositions, The Drive actually emphasizes seven Jazz Standards and tunes from the Great American Songbook among the eleven tracks on the recording.
For former Jazz musicians and enduring Jazz fans like me who have a knowledge of the idiom dating back over half a century, it’s wonderful to hear new players bring the tradition forward by superimposing their improvisations over familiar melodies.
Of course, it is costlier to produce a CD in this manner because there is the question of royalties that must be paid to gain licenses to perform copyrighted music.
But like Jung’s “collective unconscious,” Jazz is an evolving extension of what went before it so how does one discern these associations if there are no references to the Jazz tradition by musicians on the current Jazz scene?
On The Drive Chris, Austin, Leon and Dylan test their mettle as improvisors by offering well-played and interesting improvisations on Jazz classics that include
Minority by Gigi Gryce and Ask Me Now by Monk and on Harry Warren’s You’re My Everything and Jimmy van Heusen’s Like Someone in Love.
And they do it without a net, so to speak, as this is a pianoless trio that relies very heavily on the bassists Boykins and Shamat to provide harmony for Chris much the same way that Gerry Mulligan’s pianoless quartet relied on bassist Bill Crow to provide the harmony for Jeru and Chet Baker.
As a point in passing with reference to the Jazz Tradition, I’m guessing that the group’s derives its name from the “Sugar Hill” section in New York City that’s bound on the north by West 155th Street, on the south by West 145th Street, on the east by Edgecome Avenue and on the west by Amsterdam Avenue and that once was the home of Jazz luminaries such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Thelonious Monk, among many other Stars of Jazz.
It would seem then that The Sugar Hill Trio is in good company.
– Steven Cerra (Jazz Profiles)