Drummer, Composer, Arranger Jacob Wendt Takes BN Love to a Higher Level

some of us buy the records, Jacob made one!

You needn't read the liner notes to feel from where drummer/composer Jacob Wendt draws his inspiration. The front cover photo and art direction offer a hint. The back cover does not, but drop the stylus on the title track opener and you'll hear Rudy's classic Blue Note stereo spread and feel Horace Silverness of it. The "Sidewinder"-ness of the follow up tune, "New Groove" is even more obvious, but on neither tune nor on any of eight, does the music sound like a stale rehash of past musical greatness. Like Nick Culp's 2017 The Culprit Blues (Gutbucket Records GB-1001), Wendt's return to the future sounds fresh and "neck down" toe-tapping fun.

The jacket's got the play-by-play if you're so interested, otherwise you can just sit back, relax and enjoy. Wendt on drums is backed by Harry Ostrander on trumpet, Jimmy Emerzian on tenor sax, Doug Carter on piano and David Reynoso on bass. None have much in the way of Discogs credits, which is remarkable given the skilled and empathetic playing. That said, there's an air of "skimming the surface" rather than digging deeply and indelibly into the groove, though it's possible Wendt's construct was a lighter touch. If so it works particularly well on the ballad "Before You Go".

Like the music, the sound is a more modern rendering of the classic Rudy Hackensack sound. The instrumental spread mimics it, but reverb doesn't peak into dark, mysterious corners and the piano sounds like an actual piano, not the hollow wooden echo chamber heard on many RVG living room recordings. Those old recordings do have a certain charm, but the clarity, dynamic power, timbral transparency and transient precision here is even more charming. And everyone's playing in the same room and minimally miked, which helps produce a coherent, holographic picture.

on Silver Street drummer Jacob Wendt took on a formidable project, writing arranging and playing his own tunes as well as making "key recording and mixing decisions alongside veteran recording engineer Paul Tavenner, who unlike the others has an extensive Discogs trail.

I played this record in more than a few rooms at the recent Capital Audio Fest and it brought smiles to faces and got toes to tap.