Young Chicago Jazz: Jason Adasiewicz, Josh Berman, Mike Reed

Year-end lists should have a little more of what the Nobel Peace Prize was supposed to be for Barack Obama: a call to action for artists who have brought good game in the playoffs but in the next rounds, we'll be expecting considerably more. As with any genre of music, the end of a year offers a fair amount of hype and hope for jazz audiences and (naturally) those who write about music. Between the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, founded 1965), Clifford Jordan and Sun Ra, and the trajectory from Hal Russell to Ken Vandermark, Chicago always seems to have something bubbling up in the jazz world. Lately a group of players have started coming into their own in the wake of these precedents, and made the year end lists rather top-heavy - thankfully, in a positive, forward thinking light.

Vibraphonist-composer Jason Adasiewicz has recently been very active, both as a sideman and a leader. Varmint (Cuneiform) is the second date under his own name, and he's joined by cornetist Josh Berman, saxophonist/clarinetist Aram Shelton (now in Oakland, CA), bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Frank Rosaly for six originals and a cover of pianist Andrew Hill's "The Griots." The statements that have come down the pike about this band are accurate: in a sense, it's an updating of a particulaly fractured brand of post-bop that, in the mid-Sixties, centered on Blue Note artists like Hill, Grachan Moncur III, Bobby Hutcherson, and Joe Chambers. But unlike, say, the SF Jazz Collective, this is an update with a hell of a lot of bite. Yes, Varmint is "straighter" than its predecessor (Rolldown; 482 Music) - delicate pulling walk from bass and drums, tidal metric upticks providing a mutable rug for Shelton's sputtering saccharine exhortations and Berman's chunky, Old Style punch. Adasiewicz also has a tone and sense of phrasing that is unlike anyone on the instrument currently active, his sense of melody wistful and attack pelting with equal parts Milt Jackson and Khan Jamal. Rather than a blow-by-blow, I'll just say this much: I haven't heard a modern jazz record this good in years.

Last Distractions (Singlespeed) is a different bird entirely, joining Berman and Shelton with percussionist Weasel Walter. The story goes that Walter and Berman met as roommates in Chicago, though of the three only Berman still calls Chi-town home. Rather than the customary alto and Bb clarinet, Shelton employs soprano and bass clarinet here for a wider-ranging palette. The effect of the opening "Straw Men" (like all pieces here, a collective improvisation) is something akin to Steve Lacy's The Forest and The Zoo (ESP, 1966) on crack: loosely frenetic interplay, slashing but with a profound swing. Berman's cornet playing is steely, fat and round, strikingly reminiscent of early jazz players yet thrown into a modern, free twist. His solo in the waning minutes of "Ad Hominem I" is simply incredible. Walter's percussive approach is reliant on sharp relief and clear relationships at medium volume, gradual projections of sound that keeps the trio in constant motion. What separates this date from a number of Walter's own "free music" recordings is the bubble and bounce inherent in both front line players - Shelton's leaky wooden swallows are melodic and cool, even as his phrases are dive-bombed by roto toms and brassy shriek. The rapport between all three is palpable and, while a bit of a "lengthy" slice, Last Distractions is full of extremely fine music.

Drummer Mike Reed is probably best-known as a promoter (Pitchfork and Umbrella), but as a musician he's a mover and shaker in a different light, as a onetime member of the AACM's Chicago Chapter working around the city in a number of very interesting groups. His quartet People Places & Things was conceived initially as a four person audio dissertation, documenting unknown local composers' tunes from the late 1950s through reimagining and re-recording. On About Us (482 Music), it's something a little different - the band's second record focuses on the compositions that have sprung from this process. As before, Reed is joined by saxophonists Greg Ward and Tim Haldeman (a tenorman we need to hear more from), as well as bassist Jason Roebke. Jeff Parker (guitar) and David Boykin (tenor) each appear on one cut, as does the excellent trombonist Jeb Bishop (the George Russell-esque "Big Stubby").

At its most concise, the quartet makes for interesting studies in contrast - piquant alto and gruff, muscular tenor intertwine and ricochet on the opening "It's Enough" across a rockish thrum, towards a knotty theme that tugs at its own unity. "V.S. #1" has a slinky hardbop bounce, though minus a piano that churchy feel lends itself to more unfettered preaching. Haldeman, who's first out of the gate, is tough to figure - purring, bluesy, and ultimately quixotic in his phrase shapes, his ears seem tuned to Von Freeman and Fred Anderson. This is somewhat ironic, considering the presence of firebrand Boykin on "Big and Fine," who extols on the virile virtues of South Side tenor playing. About Us is certainly maintains its rough edges more prominently than the other discs here, which is interesting considering it is also perhaps the most "traditional" in scope.

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