Brad Myers – PRIME NUMBERS: This is my first listen to Brad’s laid-back guitar jazz style; only fitting, since this is his first outing as a leader. He’s got a splendid group of players for this album, too – Chris Barrick on vibraphone, tenor Ben Walkenhauer doing sax and Peter Gemus on bass, with Tom Buckley on drums – and it shows brilliantly on tunes like Wayne Shorter’s “The Big Push“… each of the players takes a turn at interpreting this down & funky tune, and it’s clear that they are all very comfortable playing with each other – no “rush”, no “overdoing it”… this is a highly talented group of players who are only about the music!
You also get to hear six Myers originals… I was very, VERY impressed with Brad’s opening track, “Bentley’s Blues“… to the point that it repeats on my player, well… repeatedly, lol… the “conversation” between Brad’s guitar and Chris’s vibes is potent and penetrating, in a laid-back sorta’ way. It was the longest piece on the album (11:40), “Rule of Threes“, another Brad original, that got my vote for personal favorite – no doubt about that… of course, with that amount of time, you know the players each have plenty of time to do their own dialogs, and the “pacing” is pure perfection. I’m mightily impressed, and can predict that you’ll be hearing much more from these folks in the coming months & years. I give Brad & his band-mates a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) rating of 4.99 for this excellent jazz experience. Get more information on Brad’s page for the album. Rotcod Zzaj
