Brad Goode - Hypnotic Suggestion

Delmark 567

Lately, I’ve been chewing on a fanciful and admittedly spurious theory regarding trumpeters. Something about the instrument seems to preserve a youthful countenance and brio in certain players, lip calluses duly noted. For much of their careers, brass men like Red Rodney and Lee Morgan looked far younger than their years. Well into his Forties, Wynton Marsalis retains his rounded boyish features. Then again, on the flip there’s the gaunt and grizzled mug of Chet Baker as counterweight. Ex-Chicagoan and current Coloradoan Brad Goode has much in common with Rodney thanks to a bright punchy attack and a fluid style grounded in bop, although he also shares traits with Marsalis through classically trained chops. My own egress to his work was through the foursome of concert recordings released by Steeplechase featuring him in the company of Windy City sax king Von Freeman. Those discs, while occasionally piebald in terms general of musicianship and fidelity, contain a great deal of spontaneity and energy, attributes that transfer directly to this new Delmark studio effort.

Goode had only a scant 150 minutes to cut the entire session so he wasted no time in trivialities or needless indulgences. Four originals and five standards provide the prospectus. Pianist Adrean Farrugia, bassist Kelly Sill and drummer Dana Hall, all new names to me, aid and abet in bringing it from the page to the mics. On the back end, Ohio everyman Harvey Pekar pens the notes, bracketing them with his customary agenda proclaiming the plight of marginalized and unsung musicians. A word too is due about the engineering, which favors an up-close, almost rock style mix with Sill and Hall particularly well served. When the duo latches on a groove as during the backbeat-tilted ballads “Just a Thought” and “I Can’t Forget About”, the results are right up front alongside Goode’s lubricious-toned horn. Bursting with growling slurs and staccato register leaps, the trumpeter’s solo on the former track is textbook in illustrating his impressive technique and range. Even the lounge-tinted “Once Upon a Summertime,” which wears a Seventies CTI-style pedigree prominently, works as a viable vehicle for the ensemble.

In this context of constantly shifting moods and meters, Goode reminds me of a player like Tom Harrell, his phrasing and demeanor cycling through a fluent succession of guises from cool-muted Milesian candor to the fluttering smears that sweeten a closing sally through the swing-staple “Crazy Rhythm.” The band’s take on “Bemsha Swing” is instantly recognizable, but Goode and Farrugia still find clever and supple ways to tinker with the well-mapped anatomy. Hall’s brushes to sticks facility coupled with Sill’s broad stroke stops also augment the in-the-moment commentary. Elsewhere, exploratory fare like the title track nods reverently in the direction of late 60s postbop with Hall’s rhythmic suspensions echoing the work of Billy Higgins while Sill makes his plump strings sing. Variety is the spice and this disc has plenty of it. It’s never an easy task for a trumpeter to front a date by his lonesome. Goode confronts the challenge with vernal enthusiasm and creativity, lending credence to my dubious opening theory and more importantly, providing an entertaining repast for the disc’s entire duration.

~ Derek Taylor