Kind Folk

Head Towards the Center

Fresh Sound New Talent

Yes, Kind Folk is a different kind of a name for a jazz quartet, but ardent listeners may recognize it as the name of Kenny Wheeler’s piece from his 1997 ECM release Angel Song. Of course, that’s not by accident as the group debuted in 2018 with Why Not, a set of originals, improvised duets, and covers of Haden and Wheeler. However, due to the relocation of some of the members and the onset of the pandemic, it took a little time to regather the members – trumpeter John Raymond, drummer Colin Stranahan, altoist Alex LoRe, and bassist Noam Weisenberg for their second album, Head Towards the Center. Here they present five originals, two free improvisations, and arrangements of “Mr. Hope” by Kurt Rosenwinkel and “Between the Bars” by the late Elliott Smith.

Inevitably the instrumental configuration will remind of Ornette Coleman and groups such as Old and New Dreams that played without a chordal instrument but the music itself is much different, not a mix of bluesy lines rooted in bebop but a more contemporary feel that owes in part to Wheeler’s ECM sound and the contemporary approach each of the members, all band leaders, brings to the democratic ensemble. If fact, as the album opens with the improvised piece, “Where Am I?” the blending of Raymond’s flugelhorn and LoRe’s alto create a harmonic layer that does not leave the absence of a chordal instrument conspicuous. As they move into Raymond’s potent “Power Fall” the trumpeter is clearly in the lead, but space opens up for Weisenberg’s bass and especially Stranahan’s boisterous drumming.

Raymond returns on flugelhorn for the mysterious and dramatic “Mantrois,” penned by the bassist who presents impressive arco work. “Around, Forever” is a feature for the altoist LoRe, who composed the piece based on his intense study of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations. He has even authored a digital book The Goldberg Variations for Saxophone Duets, Trios and Quartets. This one begins with pizzicato lines from the bassist before LoRe jumps in with flowing lines that are like a microcosm of alto playing with strains of Bird, the late Lee Konitz and Anthony Braxton.

Stranahan, having played with Kurt Rosenwinkel, is the arranger of guitarist’s “Mr. Hope,” a piece that’s schemed in the conventional head-solo-solo-head as the horns float over the rumbling rhythm tandem until that same tandem has a spirited conversation of their own before the quartet takes it out joyously. Inevitably, the temperature goes down for the cover of Smith’s “Between the Bars,” which was originally as solo acoustic number with an intimate double-tracked vocal. Here the melody trades between the horns (with Raymond again on flugelhorn) elegantly and sensitively before it crests to a more powerful statement and then dissolves to the murmur of the plucked bass.

“Distant Signal” is the second of the improvised pieces, brief in length but another example how naturally the two horns create beautiful harmonic textures. Raymond’s “Sweet Spot” highlights the composer’s clear tone on flugelhorn in this light swinging piece while the closing title track best exemplifies the group dynamic with Raymond and LoRe displaying excellent symmetry, Stranahan ever active on the kit, only to give Weisenberg the last say.

Just as the term “folk music” connotes a certain kind of togetherness, these four are totally in synch with one another, striving for the whole of the sound rather making competitive individual statements, delivering fascinating harmonics along the way.

• Jim Hynes

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