[Dixielandjazz] Chris Tyle

[Marek Boym]

Hello everybody,
Here's a review of listamte Chris' recent CD.
CD Review:Chris Tyle JCD-378
Mouth watering!
Cheers

Date Posted: 2010-09-29
I know Chris Tyle as a wonderful hot cornetist, a superb drummer, an
affecting singer. What more would anyone want?
But Chris is a splendid clarinetist as well — and I’ve just been
reminded of this by one of the most consistently stirring new CDs to
burst out of its mailer. It won’t be out until mid-October (so says
Amazon) but this will give you time to get excited, to anticipate, and
(if you like) to pre-order. It’s a honey of a session!

Since the photograph is a bit small, I will offer subtitles: the band
is CHRIS TYLE’S PACIFIC PLAYERS, and the disc is “TRIBUTE TO PEE WEE
RUSSELL” (Jazzology JCD 378).
The Pacific Players are Chris, clarinet, vocals; Katie Cavera, solo
guitar, bass, vocals; Ray Skjelbred, piano; June Smith, rhythm guitar;
Hal Smith, drums.
Most CDs by one jazz group — even the ones I earnestly yearn for —
begin to seem long. Maybe it’s my
late-life-attention-deficit-disorder, but it’s more the unintentional
lack of variety on those discs. Seventy-five minutes of the same thing
can get monotonous.
Happily, I listened to this disc all the way through, delighting at
the varied tempos and instrumental textures this little group
accomplished with great style and knowledge.
Creating a tribute to someone whose sound and approach were so
distinctive could pose its own problem for a musician less intuitive
than Chris Tyle. Russell’s twists and turns, his mutters and wails
have tempted less gifted clarinetists to attempt to ”be” Pee Wee for a
day. And since Russell’s vocabularly was always vividly aduible, from
his talking-to-himself chalumeau musings to his out-and-out arching
hollers, lesser musicians might simply offer almost-identical
collections of gestures within familiar repertoire. The result, a
shadow Pee Wee.
But Tyle, rather like the late Frank Chace, knows better. We have the
original recordings, and someone attracted to a Russell tribute is
likely to know them well, so imitation is suicide, to reiterate
Emerson.
Tyle has some of Russell’s characteristic phrases under his fingers
and in his emotional library, but he blends his own left-handed
approach with the Master’s. If I heard this CD in a Blindfold Test (or
a CADENCE “Flying Blind”) I would say, “That’s someone who loves Pee
Wee but has his own musical identity.” Chris has an innate rhythmic
energy (he is a hot player even when purling his way through a ballad)
and his own sound, both within and enveloped by Russell’s.
And the CD — wisely — roams throughout Russell’s career and wide range
of musical situations: there’s a WILD MAN BLUES that suggests the 1957
performance on television on THE SOUND OF JAZZ, a number of songs
associated with Russell’s late quartet with Marshall Brown (MY
MOTHER’S EYES and HOW ABOUT ME), some Condonia (MANDY, MAKE UP YOUR
MIND and SAVE YOUR SORROW) and homages to the Rhythmakers among
others. This multi-faceted approach — without making the disc a
chronological tour through Pee Wee’s recordings — adds a great deal to
its charm and vitality. I heard the rhythm section taking on some of
the characteristics of Russell’s later recordings with Nat Pierce, Jo
Jones, and George Wettling, and they manage to make SHINE ON YOUR
SHOES and HELLO, LOLA romp with one horn only.
Chris would have had a steeper uphill climb with a lesser rhythm
section, to be sure. The first sound I heard on this disc was the
joyous swish of Hal Smith’s hi-hat, and I will say only that his
drumming through this session is supportive and exultant: he uses
every part of his drum kit in the most swinging ways. Katie Cavera
adds her girlish singing (very sweet indeed) to a few numbers, her
solo guitar most effectively, and her solid bass work throughout —
sounding much like Walter Page, no small compliment. June Smith is a
wonderful guitarist with an authentic rhythm wave that can echo
Freddie Green or Condon most delightfully. And Ray Skjelbred is just
invaluable — his rocking accompaniment and brilliant solo playing do
honor to Hines and Frank Melrose, to Stacy and Sullivan . . . boiling
away through the ensembles.
I think this is a thrilling CD. Hail Chris Tyle and his mighty colleagues!