Eddie Mendenhall Makes A Splash With His "Cosine Meets Tangent"

Any jazz ensemble with a lineup of piano-vibes-bass and drums invites com- parisons and gets a sound right off the bat that reverberates with the history of the music. Of course there was the MJQ, the Bobby Hutcherson Blue Notes with that configuration, and a number of others. The instrumentation lends itself to harmonically intricate voicings, a lighter swing, a special chiming resonance. So when I pulled young pianist Eddie Mendenhall's CD out of its mailer, I had some expectations, like it or not.

Cosine Meets Tangent (Miles High 8614) lives up to those expectations. It exceeds them and also stymies them, which can only be good. I always kick myself in the head when I accidentally read the press releases too closely. I don't want to be unduly influenced. But I inadvertently looked down and read a quote from vibist Mark Sherman, saying that Eddie "captures a great mix of Bobby Timmons, Red Garland, and early McCoy Tyner." Hmm... The Bobby Timmons influence is there I suppose, and Red without the block chords exactly the way Red did them, and McCoy with that very lubricated right-hand line invention, yes. Well, I don't disagree with that, so no harm in quoting it!

This is an album that sometimes has a little of the coolness that the piano-vibes quartet can project, but it also swings hard, much harder than MJQ was apt to do. It has heat, too. To backtrack though, the people in this quartet: Mendenhall on piano of course, Mark Sherman on vibes, as we hinted at above, John Schifflett on bass, and Akira Tana on drums. That turns out to be a very attractive combination. They do an all originals set (except there's one Rogers and Hart standard). One of the originals is by vibist Mark, the other eight are by Eddie M. They are in a charming sort of hard-swinging sophisticated harmonic-melodic bag typical of some cats circa 1959-64 or so. There's nothing wrong with that if done well, and done well is what they do! Besides which I can't think of anybody getting this much mileage out of this style in years.

Eddie M. is a fine late-bop pianist with a full set of ears and the ability to craft some beautiful comp-and-line solos. Mark Sherman matches up very well with Eddie as the second solo and ensemble voice. There's Bag-to-Hutch in there and he knows just what to do, phrases beautifully, and can swing heavily when needed. The rhythm section is admirable. Akira Tana we know can do this sort of thing with his eyes closed, but John Schifflett, whom I do not know much about, sounds great as well.

I love this one. The only thing missing? Trane from the Bags and Trane era. OK so they can add a hip tenor next time if they want. This one does just fine without that. Get it and feel some of the joy that is absolutely there!

A Live DVD From Vibist Mark Sherman

Live jazz DVDs can be great ways to experience the music. That's so with the Mark Sherman Quintet's Live at Sweet Rhythm (Miles High 8610), It's a longish set (or composite set) in a congenial club setting. The Quintet unselfconsciously goes through their original tunes with a looseness good live jazz can have if conditions are right.

Mark Sherman plays a keenly honed vibes style that incorporates the Bags through Hutcherson and mid-Trane sort of stylistic conglomeration. But he does it with real skill and swing and he does not seem at all cloned. His band is quite congenial to his style parameters. I'm quite impressed with drummer Tim Horner. He plays beautiful time, with the kicks and pushes that put the group into the pocket. Dean Johnson's bass is also super-foundational to the band's driven pulsations.

Pianist Allen Farnham plays an uncluttered harmonic comping which, most importantly for this instrumentation, does not clash with Sherman's chordal moments. Farnham digs in for some melodic blowing and most definitely serves as a nice contrast to the vibe pyrotechnics of Mr. Sherman. Finally Joe Magnarelli adds much to the doings on trumpet and fluegelhorn. He has a little of Art Farmer in his approach, to my ears, as well as the mainstays of the hard bop trumpet lineage. As the sole horn he gives another punctuation to the improvisational prose and he plays his role quite well.

They run through ten tunes on this audio-video capture. There's Monk's "Trinkle Tinkle," done nicely, and nine Sherman originals. Some are really fitting and move! Others sometimes have a slightly ordinary harmonic predictability. Well, they blow in the tradition, and the tradition is not often given to startling (to present-day ears) chord sequences, so what it is, it is supposed to be.

The sound is very decent. The video work concentrates on showing the band straightforwardly and that's a plus for feeling like you are there. Supplementary sections supply short interviews by each of the band members. That's informative and adds to it all.

The band in general and Mark Sherman in particular play here a very solid set and will satisfy anyone with a mainstream bent. Sherman's vibes are something to check out!