There is an off-the-cuff nature to several of Walter Smith III’s album titles – “casual,” “return to casual,” and now this latest one – “Three of us are from Houston, and Reuben is not.” Yet, Smith and his bandmates mostly play with an enthusiasm that belies any such notion. On this outing, beyond paying homage to his hometown, he convenes a group that he fronts for the first time on his second Blue Note release. Yet, pianist Jason Moran, drummer Eric Harland, and Virgin Islands native bassist Reuben Rogers have long played as the tight rhythm section backing Charles Lloyd. Moran and Harland are slightly older than Smith but all three attended the renowned breeding ground for jazz in the city, Kinder High School for the Performing Arts. So, while Smith has long been impressed with Moran and Harland’s ability to create and improvise with only a small amount of written material, it’s fair to say that the album’s impetus points to Rogers, who Smith has not recorded with previously. He cites the bassist as having an old-school, melodic approach, contrary to many in his generation.
Smith takes a less detailed compositional approach than the previous return to casual, knowing that these players are especially instinctual. The swaying, aptly titled opener, “Seesaw,” is emblematic, not only musically but in concept, as it relates to the back-and-forth nature of evaluating different career options. At the same time, in high school and the impact that Moran and Harland had on his eventual choice of music. While the theme consistently courses through the piece, mainly through Smith alone, the others playfully embellish and improvise around it, each voice coming through clearly. Obviously, the more abstract “Gangsterism on Moranish” is for the pianist. It is a re-imagined “Moranish” from Smith’s 2010 Album III (Criss Cross) as well as a reference to Moran’s series of “Gangsterism” compositions heard on Moran’s Blue Note albums. While Moran and Harland played on the 2010 version, Smith initially engages in a thoughtful, ostinato-like dialogue with Moran before revealing the original strains midway through. Throughout, Smith is all over his horn, modulating his volume to make way for the inventive thrusts of his rhythm mates, especially Moran, who has the uncanny knack of hitting the unexpected note that may seem out of place but somehow fits.
The quartet goes‘out’ on the brief Ornette-like “24,” referencing Smith’s pager code number in high school. These high school memories appear again in the contemplative ballad, “Misanthrope Hymn” which also traces to Smith’s weekly high school vocabulary tests. Moran’s dense chord choices here reflect the studious impetus for the tune. Toward the end, Smith shuns the balladic approach, taking a free, expressive flight over Moran’s creative comping. The ballad “Montrose Nocturne,” which has similar patterns, is named for the art district where the high school is located.
When it is not high school, the subject often pertains to the city itself. The deceptively swinging “Cezanne” is not named for the French painter but for the premier jazz club in Houston, a favorite for the then-high schooler Smith in the late ‘90s. As he blows a series of wavelike clusters, Moran’s flowing solo and Harland’s drumming contribute nicely. As such, Smith’s “610 Loop,” named for the city’s interstate, was written with Harland in mind, with its two sections in a cyclical form that produces a rather hypnotic vibe. The declarative piano-saxophone duet “Lone Star” that closes the album rather wittily has country strains when, in fact, it’s intended to characterize Houston as a culturally rich city.
Three others stand apart from these two themes. The close rapport between Smith and Moran is displayed in the free jazz workout, “A Brief Madness” and the quartet’s highly rhythmic, explorative take on Sam Rivers’ “The Point of Many Returns.” Finally, we have the single “Office Party Music,” as you may detect, one of the album’s truly humorous and, yes, off-the-cuff offerings based on the psychological thriller TV series Severance.
As Charles Lloyd has demonstrated to us countless times, Smith’s backing trio are among the very best. Hearing them in a different context is a joy, playing freely behind Smith’s inventive writing and playing.
