JEFF COFFIN

ONLY THE HORIZON

Ear Up Records

Jeff Coffin, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones/electro sax/bass flute/C flute/bass clarinet/melodica/tambourine/chant vocals;  Daru Jones, Nate Smith & Carter Beauford, drums; MonoNeon & Stefan Lessard, electric bass; Victor Wooten, Jay White & Tony Hall, bass; Leo Genovese, Fender Rhodes; Béla Fleck, banjo; Cory Wong & Nir Felder, guitar; Keb Mo, resonator guitar; Buddy Strong, fender bass;  Victor Krauss, upright bass;  Ryoko Suzuki, harmonium; Mars Williams, tenor saxophone; Bill Evans, soprano saxophone; Ray Mason, trombone;  Rashawn Ross, Emmanuel Echem & Rod McGaha, trumpet; Ibrahima “Ibro” Dloubate, kinkini, dundun, samban & djembe; R.A.P. Ferreira, spoken word vocals/lyrics; CHANT VOCALS: Jeff Coffin, Roy Wooten, Buddy Strong; YELL ENSEMBLE: Ibrahima ‘ibro’ Dioubate, Mohammed ‘Fassa’ Dioubate, Sory Diabate, Agatha Moubembe, Mohammed ‘Dho’ Cisse. Shay Rollerson, Corinthian Doctor, & Chelsea Nona Green, vocals/handclaps; Gracie Gadsen, Rosa Murray, Joseph Murray, vocals; Bob Coffin, spoken word; Quentin E. Baxter, vocals/big drum/tambourine/ washboard/handclaps.

Multi-talented Jeff Coffin, former Dave Matthew Band member and woodwind player, composer, and educator, offers this collection of original compositions that redefine genre categories.  Starting with a funky tune he calls “Here We Go,” you can hear how Coffin blends contemporary jazz grooves with African Rhythms and R&B.  The players are allowed their freedom to improvise widely. That puts the jazz into these arrangements.  I found this arrangement overplayed the catchy, happy melody line, repeating it for nearly eight minutes, while featuring the power drums of Daru Jones and the pumping bass of Victor Wooten.  Leo Genovese adds piano licks to the arrangement, while the horns punch in all the right places, repetitiously churning out the melody. There is a hint of Stevie Wonder influence in this tune.

On the next tune, “Yesterday’s Dream,” I realize that this repetitious groove-thing is Coffin’s style.  He makes sure to drill the melody into our subconscious.  Long after I stop listening to this album, I still hear his melodies bouncing around in my brain.  That’s the sign of a very strong songwriter.  In the background of Track #2 a voice asks periodically, “Are you there?”   It’s catchy and typical of the era of cell phone usage where I often find myself asking that very question.

“Pharoah Rise” features spoken word lyricist, R.A.P. Ferreira, with the horns repeating a melody my mind clings to like life itself.  A flute improvises wildly in the background, and a soprano saxophone, then a bass flute, all played by Jeff Coffin.  Occasionally, Ezra Kessler adds an African Bell, that blends with the percussion and carries us away to another continent, another time, another place. Add to this production, vocal chants, and the effect is culturally affective.

On a composition Coffin calls “A Hat for My Beard” Bela Fleck gets all my attention when he plays his banjo. He is magnificent.  On this arrangement you will enjoy Jeff Coffin exploring his baritone saxophone, his tenor sax, flute and bass flute.  The man is a woodwind master.  A song called “Picking Pockets” features African percussion with Carter Beauford on drums. This is followed by Coffin’s composition, “Yeli Geechee” with guest guitarist, Grammy Winner, Keb Mo performing on resonator guitar. A chorus of voices join in, whisk me off to a Louisiana plantation, lush with tropical plants, thick with history and blood at the roots. A group of Gullah Geechee musicians join Coffin’s musical journey and take us into the depths of black music. Coffin’s saxophone cries soulfully, from the belly of the blues.

There is nothing boring about this album of music.  It is full of musical surprises and excitement.  It’s danceable, artistic, Hip-Hop influenced, funky and jazzy in the same breath, and quite unpredictable.  One thing for sure, you will be thoroughly entertained!

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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