University of Colorado professor and trumpeter Brad Goode has a superb CD coming out Tuesday. “Tight Like This” is on the Delmark record label, a well-liked independent based in Goode’s hometown of Chicago. He’s put out at least half a dozen releases, all of them solid and confident.
“Tight” takes everything up a notch. It helps that his quartet really is a band, as opposed to musicians showing up to record a one-off. Pianist Adrean Farrugia converses and jousts with Goode, whose own swirling solo runs reflect someone who not only knows history but also has some ideas as to what he should do with that knowledge.
Drummer Anthony Lee and bassist Kelly Sill are sympathetic little-knowns who won’t remain that way much longer. The covers are unexpected, like the subtly funky version of early trumpet king Freddie Webster’s “Reverse the Charges.” Goode has written several upbeat pieces, including the expressive waltz “Summary,” a tribute to his music business mentor, saxophonist Eddie Harris, that showcase his horn in a properly admirable light. The whole thing is, as the title of the disc reads, tight.
The release of the CD is Phase 1 of a grand plan for Goode, who hasn’t led his own group since the ’90s in Chicago. “I have a sabbatical leave coming up from the university,” he said. “My proposal was to put out a record and tour with this group.”
He’s been playing with the quartet around the Midwest recently, but Goode admits that he doesn’t get to play jazz in Colorado as often as he’d like. His only steady performance gig is a jam session that he heads up on Monday nights at the Blending Cellar on Boulder’s Pearl Street.
There are other styles of music at which Goode is adept, but listening to “Tight Like This,” one can tell that he’s exceptional at playing jazz. He can hold your attention with a straight-ahead ballad and then let loose with a series of slippery high-register notes that remind you of another Chicago trumpeter, the late Lester Bowie. And Goode does it with what he offhandedly refers to as a “beat-up trumpet.”
“It’s a 1936 Martin,” he says. “I got it in an antique store for $25.”
He dislikes my suggestion of upgrading to a newer model. “It plays easily,” he says defensively of his horn. “You’ve got to find one that feels natural.”
If “Tight Like This” is any indication, Goode could just as well be talking about his own band, which could evolve into a crack unit if given the time.
(Goode leads a Monday night jam session, at 7 every Monday at the Blending Cellar, 946 Pearl St., Boulder. Call 303 447 0475.)
Set list.
SingerNnenna Freelon, who is capable of channeling Sarah Vaughan, appears at Boulder’s Macky Auditorium on Saturday. . . . Summit Jazz 2010 is scheduled for the Red Lion Inn Denver Southeast, Oct. 1-3 with Jeff Barnhart, John Cocuzzi, the Jim Cullum Jazz Band and theTitan Hot Seven. Get tickets through . . . . Dazzle has some notable shows scheduled in the next couple of weeks: Saxophonist J.D. Allen and his trio, featuring cornetist Ron Miles, plays there on Thursday; the Ken Walker Sextet appears on Friday; and drummer Louis Hayesbrings his trio to Dazzle on Oct. 2. Hayes has fired up numerous prime movers in the history of the music, like John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery and Sonny Rollins.
Bret Saunders’ column on jazz appears every other Sunday in A&E. Saunders is host of the “KBCO Morning Show,” 5:30-10 a.m. weekdays at 97.3-FM. His e-mail address is bret_saunders@hotmail.com.
