Loren Stillman - The Brothers' Breakfast

Steeplechase 31586

Hammond B3 and tenor saxophone have been a peanut butter and chocolate pairing since the Fifties. The tandem instrumentation has served as the central glue on countless jazz sessions since. Lou Donaldson was one of the few hardbop altoists to engage the organ on record, first in the company of Jimmy Smith and later incorporating it into his own numerous sides as a leader for Blue Note. Loren Stillman’s sound on the Bird whistle is more akin to Jackie McLean, who incidentally also jammed with Jimmy on the lesser-heralded Open House/Plain Talk session for Blue Note. Stillman retains McLean’s tendency for fluttering trills, but with a smoother attack and the elder’s astringent bite largely leavened. I also hear elements of the Konitz vernacular that were even more in evidence throughout his work on Steeplechase Jam Session 15. With The Brothers’ Breakfast he joins a trio of colleagues in provide a modernist spin on the organ jazz lineage through a songbook of diversified originals and a lone Monk tune.

Guitarist Vic Juris, organist Gary Versace and drummer Jess Hirshfield are all Steeplechase veterans with nearly a seventy dates for the label in their collective portfolio. Though Stillman and the three have played together in various aggregations, this session marks their debut as a quartet. Juris’ nimble single notes and shimmering comping tactics remind me of blend of Pat Martino and John Abercrombie while Versace wears a heavy John Patton mantle in his sly harmonic choices, swirling church organ-tinged runs, and general modal expertise. Hirshfield changes up between sticks and brushes, daubing plenty of rhythmic color and texture with the latter implements on the laidback “Johnny Rock” and laying down a sturdy backbeat across the bright-to-dark “Densities.” Versace’s Pattonesque proclivities are particularly prevalent on the former tune thanks to a warm, oily tonality and plump perambulating bass line. At the close of the second piece he summons waves of droning sustain that mimic the beam of a Martian ray gun set to disintegrate.

Stillman’s compositional style employs the “stream-of-consciousness” teachings of Ludmila Ulehla, and stresses an initial disregard for bar lines in the process. The outcome is music imbued with metric malleability and laced with frequent detours and melodic switchbacks. “Deified” denotes the most striking example of the method with a palindromic melody that repeatedly about-faces before veering into a free-form funk segment that recalls the less-tethered trajectories of Larry Young. The band’s rendering of Monk’s “Gallop Gallop” reveals a strong thread of the composer’s mercurial unpredictability in Stillman’s own philosophies. Versace, in particular, revels in the stuttering rhythmic structure, shaping a solo swollen with groove that contrasts with the leader’s own lithe eccentrically dancing line. It’s a source of admittedly superficial endearment to be sure, but Stillman’s preference for an unlaquered horn won me over all the more. At just a quarter century in age, this clever and industrious altoist has a promising career ahead of him. I intend to keep ears open for what is to come.

~ Derek Taylor

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