Bassist Mark Wade is creating a sound in the jazz piano trio idiom that combines the heritage of the great piano trio language with that of classical song-forms, rhythmic structures and melodic developments of the melodies. The group is comprised of: Tim Harrison at the piano, Wade on bass, arranging and compositions and the drummer is Scott Neumann. Moving Day is Wade’s second album and features seven of his compositions and two inventive arrangements of well-known standards. The trio has a solid chemistry and a good concept of the colors and language they want to present. Like most modern jazz, the trio plays with time signatures, but always in a natural and flowing manner. There is a nice mix of feels and tempos, mostly on the mellower side, but there is certainly intensity to all of the playing and interaction between the players. Wade’s bass tone is round and warm, and the playing is melodic and flowing and that’s the short of it!
Positives:
A collection of modern jazz tunes that have a chamber jazz overtone that flows through Wade’s creative compositions and arrangements.
Bottom Line:
Moving Day finds Wade delivering a fine set of compositions and combined with Scott Neumann (drums), the heart and soul of the band is graceful and delivers a pulse that is agreeable and captivating. The three have a joy and ease of playing together, each of them brings their own unique playing style to create a unified sound over the course of nine tracks. The music is full of fascinating harmonies, melodies, and compositional techniques, but beauty is the theme here; Moving Day is unquestionably conspicuous